Harmlessly flirting with a worldly artist, Beatrix is outraged when he tries to put the moves on her, and she storms indignantly out of his Greenwich Village studio. Alas, her visits to the lecherous artist have already stirred up gossip, so to allay suspicions Beatrix claims that she has come to New York to visit a family friend, Pelham Franklin.

Anne Blair is a model at a modiste's shop who accepts the attention of wealthy Thomas Brockton so she can help support her invalid mother. One day Brockton tries to force himself on her and she stabs him. Later that day Anne finds out that her mother has died, and delirious from the shock, she wanders out into the snow where she is found, unconscious, by artist Richard Steel.