A newly wealthy heir returns from abroad to a coastal community, his family history traced back to a meek ancestor; along the way the narrative recounts a dramatic shipwreck and rescue, seaside amusements and scandals at a fashionable watering-place, romantic entanglements involving two young women, and the intrigues of a scheming antagonist whose plots unravel. Interwoven with comic character sketches and moral parables, the story explores social reintegration, pride and humility, and how sudden fortune alters private lives and public reputations, culminating in the protagonist's final homecoming and the resolution of rivalries and romances.