The film is based on a 1907 play, Lady Frederick by young Somerset Maugham, which had starred Barrymore on Broadway.

As described in a film magazine,[6][7] Betsy O'Hara (Barrymore) marries Lord Frederick Berolles (Ratcliffe) to please her parents but soon falls in love with another man Sir Paradise Fuldes (Herbert) whom she had initially rejected due to his poverty.

Her situation is further worsened when her sister Kitty (Childers), while married to a man of position, has foolishly compromised herself with Robert Montgomery (Kilgour), a cad who forces her to visit his rooms on threat of disclosure.

Betsy visits Monte Carlo and while gambling, she meets the married Lord Charles Mereston (Entwistle) who falls in love with her.

Initially resentful of the interference, she sends Lord Mereston about his business using an ingenious device and eventually finds her reward in the arms of Paradise.