Mary Howard (Crawford) is a novelist with advanced ideas about love and marriage, and is in love with her publisher, Rogers Woodruff (Marshall). She decides the only logical thing to do is to lure him away from his wife and marry him. Mary's friend, Jimmy (Taylor), however, is convinced he's the right man for her and pursues her. He sees through her rationalizations and wrong-thinking and decides to throw Mary and Woodruff's wife Claire (Garson) together at the house of a friend (Byington). The two women do not know each other, but during their chats Mary appreciates and respects Claire's maturity and wisdom. When she learns Woodruff is a philandering womanizer of long standing, she realizes she cannot love him and welcomes Jimmy's attentions.