In France during the reign of Louis XVI American naval officer Francis Burnham escapes from a British convict ship. He flees to Paris to see Benjamin Franklin only to find him away. At loose ends he becomes indebted to the Marquis de Tremignon who under threat of imprisonment involves him in an intrigue to compromise the Countess De Villars to force her into marriage. While unwillingly purloining one of her slippers the lady catches him, and they realize he had saved her at one time from highwaymen. After many contretemps, the Marquis is disgraced, and the Countess and Burnham are united.

Wealthy widower Jonathan and Hannah Tubbs have been engaged for the past 20 years but Jonathan continues to stall. When the Widow Smiles tries to entrap him into matrimony Hannah threatens to sue him for breach of promise. Before Jonathan skips town young Freddy, who loves Jonathan’s daughter Sallie, extracts a promise that if he gets him out of his tangle Freddy can marry her. Freddy’s methods are a bit devious, but he wins Sallie’s hand.

Phoebe-Ann assumes her ill mother's duties as caretaker of the Washington Square studio of Worthington Bryce, who in attempting to become an artist against his wealthy father's wishes, has succeeded only in painting the town red. After her mother dies, Phoebe-Ann moves in with Worthy and his valet Jenkins, and although she is the reason for Worthy's subsequent serious pursuit of art, he credits his improvement to his fiancée Lela Trevor. Lela, however, merely desires his father's money, and really loves Worthy's friend Dick Moreland.

After millionaire Erastus Browning and his daughter Charlotte, a playwright, attend a crime play, Charlotte complains that the crook characters are not true to life. To prove her point, aided by supposed criminal Bidwell Wright, Charlotte invites a number of notorious criminals to her home for a party. The crooks all believe they have been invited to form an international family of thieves, headed by Charlotte and her father.