Ben Quick arrives at Frenchman's Bend, MS for allegedly burning a barn to get revenge after being kicked. Can Varner owns nearly everything at Frenchman's Bend and he hires Ben to operate in his store. Will thinks their or her own son, Jody, who despairs of him getting his wife , Eula, pregnant, lacks ambition and manages the store. Will thinks his daughter, a school teacher, Clara, won't ever have married. He decides that Ben Quick might make a Great husband for Clara to attract some new blood