Laura Sergeant (Leatrice Joy), together with her husband, Humphrey Sergeant (Sidney Blackmer) operates a scam scheme to extort money from millionaires through blackmail and victimization until she mistakenly victimizes Tony Williams (Walter Pidgeon), the man she really loves.
Reporter Charles Wills, in Paris to cover the end of World War II, falls for the beautiful Helen Ellswirth following a brief flirtation with her sister, Marion. After he and Helen marry, Charles pursues his novelistic ambition while supporting his new bride with a deadening job at a newspaper wire service. But when an old investment suddenly makes the family wealthy, their marriage begins to unravel — until a sudden tragedy changes everything.