Lulu, the bishop's daughter, and Tom, the Duke of Bilgewater's nephew, are in love and want to marry. Their relatives oppose the marriage, however, because Lulu's marriage contract with a curate has been signed and Tom is engaged to his ugly cousin, Lady Mary. Lulu and Tom elope to America and look for work.

Ronald, heir to Lord Earle in Earlescourt, England, secretly loves Dora Thorne, a desirable but working-class woman. When Lord Earle hears of the relationship, he brings Valentine Charteris to the estate to distract his lovesick son. True to his love, however, Ronald refuses Valentine and marries Dora. After emigrating to Italy, Ronald earns a modest living as a painter, and Dora gives birth to twins. When Ronald receives a generous commission to paint a portrait, he asks Dora to pose for him, but overly preoccupied with the children, she refuses. Wounded by the rejection, Ronald calls on Valentine Charteris and quickly becomes infatuated with her, forcing Dora to return to Earlescourt with the twins.

Heroine Laura suffers spectacularly as her romance with her soldier sweetheart is destroyed by malicious gossip.

An innocent man, serving a sentence of five years in prison through the perjured testimony of the real criminal, Steve Carson, foreman of a shipyard, strikes up a warm friendship with his cellmate, Harold Norwood, a defaulting paying teller. No less strange than their friendship is the befriending of Steve's wife, Annie, by Julia Seymour, prima donna, who is Norwood's wife. As a reward of good behavior, the men are released on Christmas morning. Annie is bewildered by the receipt of a bank book which shows that large deposits of gold have been made in her name and that of her sister, Mary, by their uncle, George Hosford, who, dying in Alaska, has entrusted the book to Joe Hawes, a fellow prospector.

The hero, Howard, has just married his sweetheart Mabel. Howard's ex-flame Cora remains in love with Howard, but she despises Mabel. With the help of her old acquaintance Robert, Cora breaks up Howard and Mabel's marriage. On the verge of wedding Howard herself, Cora is exposed for the viper that she is by the careless Robert.