When Marie-Grace arrives in New Orleans in 1853, she is not sure she fits in, until an unexpected invitation opens the door to friendship.

Cecile Rey, whose prosperous family are free people of color, makes friends with Marie-Grace Gardner, a doctor's daughter who has just returned to her native New Orleans in 1853, and persuades her to change places at their separate Mardi Gras balls.

Now that the yellow fever epidemic is over, the people of New Orleans raise money to care for the orphans, and C©♭cile seeks to discover something special she can to do help.

When Marie-Grace discovers a baby outside her father's office and a slave catcher claims the boy, she helps place him at a white orphanage where she becomes a volunteer, as her friendship with C�ecile grows and she hears rumors of yellow fever.