A landowner Gáthy and his wife adopt an orphaned infant at the birth of their own son, only to realize too late that they can’t tell which baby is which. They raise both boys as their own until, on the brink of the sons’ marriages, questions of lineage brought up by prospective mothers and meddling mothers-in-law threaten to unravel their family.

Marika is adopted by Orbán Sándor after his wife dies. However, when she reaches the age of 19, he discovers she is more attractive than any of the women he knows. There are a few complications before Marika realizes that her foster father, Orbán, will make a better husband than any of the young men that are courting her.

The carefree squandering of Baron Inokay's wealth, the steward Gáspár Borly - who is called "the old scoundrel" behind his back - is rumored to have been stealing from the Baron's family for years and has amassed a large fortune. Baroness Mária Inokay, who was raised in Vienna and is destined to be Count Balassa, returns home. However, Mária loves her childhood playmate, Gáspár Borly's grandson. Old Borly is eventually convicted of the theft, but his will reveals that he only saved what he could and left all the valuables he had embezzled to Mária. After this, nothing can stand in the way of their previously seemingly hopeless love.