In 1938, handsome, irresponsible playboy Johnnie Aysgarth meets bespectacled Lina McLaidlaw on a train in England and later persuades her to take a walk with him. She is defensive and suspects his motives; he insults her in a ploy to create familiarity. But later, at a window, she overhears her parents talking about her. They assume she will never marry, and hurt by this she kisses Johnnie.
