Party Wire

Matthew Putnam is summoned back to his small hometown of Rockridge by his bedridden aunt Nettie after seven years abroad. Nettie urges him to take charge of Putnam Dairies, the family business and town's major employer. He arrives reluctantly, aware of the town's eyes on him and the expectations that come with his wealth.

The return stirs excitement among the town's mothers with marriageable daughters. Mathilda Sherman pushes her daughter's prospects, but Matthew shows little interest in Irene. The social stakes of his presence become immediately apparent.

Matthew visits his good friend Will Oliver and is surprised by how grown and beautiful Will's daughter Marge has become. He begins spending more time with her, flirting at the local bank where she works. The attraction promises trouble for the town's cautious peace.

Roy Daniels pursues Marge, but she rejects him. He decides to leave for New York City the next day, hoping to escape the unwanted attention. The town's gossip mill churns with little regard for the truth.

Marge stays late at night balancing the church finances for which she and Roy are responsible. A shared telephone line prompt leads Will to call, but eavesdroppers misinterpret the message as a pregnancy scandal and Roy's plan to leave town. The rumor begins to spiral out of control.

Mathilda seizes the moment to bully her husband Tom Sherman into firing Marge. She also disqualifies Marge's winning entry in the annual flower show, deepening the town's animosity toward her. Gossip spreads, inflaming tensions between the couple and the community.

Marge and Matthew remain oblivious to the rumors and grow closer. He asks her to marry him, and she agrees on the condition that they elope the next day. Their plan to escape the social storm underscores the pressure on their relationship.

Will discovers that his earlier call started the whole mess and attempts to shoot himself. He survives with a minor head wound, a grim reminder of the town's fragile reputation. The incident casts a somber shadow over the impending wedding.

Matthew decides to teach the town a sharp lesson, transferring all his money out of Sherman Bank and ordering the replacement of 300 local workers with outsiders. The community trembles as its economic base faces upheaval. The move heightens the stakes and pushes people toward reckoning.

Aunt Nettie—who hadn't left bed for fifteen years—arrives to deliver a blunt tongue-lashing at the gossiping townsfolk. She calls out their past misdeeds and reframes the conflict with blunt honesty. Her intervention becomes a turning point for the community.

The misunderstandings are resolved, and the couple slips away to Springfield to marry. The town remains chastened, but the union endures as a new chapter for Marge and Matthew. Their discreet ceremony contrasts with the earlier public uproar.

A mock disagreement about where they should spend their honeymoon is misreported as a full-blown argument by Bert West. The town's habit of sensationalizing private matters lingers even after the couple's marriage. The story closes with the couple secure, but the town's gossip machine not fully quieted.