A young man makes his living in Paris in 1900 by fighting duels on behalf of other parties. He is hired to injure a leading politician and starts to get involved with a girl he uses to provoke the challenge. One newspaper, hostile to the politician, headlines the story of the impending duel asking who this Madame X is. Problem is, she is in fact the daughter of the paper's proprietor if only he knew it.

The life of Irishman George Howard who buys an English theatre and strives to improve the standard of musical entertainment. Set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and loosely based on fact.