During the cotton famine caused by the Civil War in the United States, the Rev. Mr. Granger was active in collecting funds for the relief of the weavers. Nora Field, his wife’s niece who lived at the parsonage, was engaged to marry a wealthy American and, to make herself attractive to her new relatives, had been hoarding her money for a suitable trousseau. Distressed by the suffering of the weavers, she determined instead to give the money for their aid.