Kathy, aspiring to be an artist, acquires a job in San Francisco that will allow her to take an evening art class. However the day she gets the job, the aunt that raised her suffers a stroke, and Kathy is needed at home to care for her. Kathy’s fiance, Jim, urges her to marry him immediately so he can provide for her and her aunt, but she pushes him off, as she is unsure about their engagement. During this, a stranger, Marc, asks to rent the “China House” in the back of Kathy’s yard. She wants to refuse, but her aunt agrees to the arrangement and it provides needed money for the two of them. Aunt Em is slowly recovering, but in one spell of delusion, tells Kathy to find the “bright star.” Kathy finds it within the China house. It’s a locket that contains the pictures and names of her parents. She learns that she is the granddaughter of Phineas Fenton, the richest man in town. However, she decides she’d rather continue to live in her old gray house. Overjoyed that she’s choosing her roots over money, Marc proposes to her, and she accepts.
