A Girl Must Live

Daphne Trowbridge, an impulsive and obstinate but nonetheless kindhearted young woman, lives with her aunt and uncle on their country estate. Daphne falls in love with Tom Dunstan, but when she learns that Mrs. Trowbridge favors the young man, she deserts him, whereupon he departs for the woods brokenhearted. Because her aunt dislikes Gerald, Daphne accepts his proposal, but on the day of the wedding, she discovers that Mrs. Trowbridge has liked him from the beginning. Furious at her aunt's scheming, Daphne hires the first man she meets, who happens to be a heavily bearded lumberman, to marry her and then leave. Later, however, her hired husband abducts her to his cabin in the woods, where he eventually succeeds in taming her. After he rescues her from two lecherous lumberjacks, Daphne discovers that her husband is Tom, whom she had loved all along.

A young bank clerk wants to marry her, but Nell Fanshawe decides that soda clerk John Stanley is the one for her. Because John does not have enough money to marry, however, Nell encourages him to go to New York, where he becomes a successful antique salesman for Jellaby and Co. Steve Ratling, a vindictive discharged salesman, convinces John to gamble the $300 he took in on a large sale, because he didn't get a deserved raise. After John loses the money, he disappears, leaving a note to Jellaby saying that his pocket was picked, but that he will repay the money. When detectives visit Nell, she goes to New York, works for Jellaby, and searches for John at soda fountains throughout the city. After she catches stenographer Nan Powderly opening a letter from John with $20 enclosed, Nell traces him. Although she is disappointed to learn that he lost the money gambling, after John confesses, both Nell and Jellaby give him another chance.

Three young adults are reunited for their first high school reunion forcing them to crossroads on an unexpected path of self discovery.