Without social or romantic interests, young Basil Hammond goes to Paris to study paleontology and to bring back a report to his guardian on the manners and moral character of her granddaughter, Liane. At first he is disgusted by her attempts to vamp him, but eventually, he falls in love with her.

Bored by the slow pace of life in her little home town, Helen Drayton rebels when her friends and relatives assume that she will marry her friend and escort, Chet Vernon. Helen is so anxious to experience life in the big city that she falls in love with visiting New York architect John Galvin almost immediately after his arrival. Several weeks later, the two marry and move to New York, where, after a series of painful experiences, Helen finally realizes John's selfishness.

When a young woman's great romance is interrupted by the influence of her lover's parents, she turns to her art as a violinist to console herself. As she is about to achieve her highest triumph, she is suddenly confronted by the return of the man she loves, and she must make a choice.

When Bruce Sands, a dilettante artist with a history of amorous peccadilloes, discovers that his latest flame Bunny Winston wants to marry him, he seeks refuge at his friend John Woodward's country home, unaware that Woodward has asked Bunny to marry him. Bunny follows the artist to Woodward's estate, where Bruce begins a flirtation with Woodward's daughter Audrey. After Audrey is injured in a fall from a horse, Bruce promises to marry her, thinking that she is on her deathbed. Upon hearing the news, Bunny assumes that Bruce will now be a member of the family and so marries Woodward. When Audrey recovers, the engagement is broken, Bruce returns to town, and Bunny follows. Bruce rejects Bunny and begins his campaign for his next victim, leaving Audrey and her father to console each other.

Jo Morey, who lives in the St. Lawrence River Valley, inherits her father's barren farm and devotes her entire energies to cultivating it and caring for her invalid sister. Henry Langley meets Jo and proposes marriage to her. She asks him to wait until she is free, but Langley refuses and marries Mary Malden. Eight years later Jo has paid off the mortgage to Captain Longville, and one night she finds a baby in her house; it is Langley's, and a note requests that its parentage be kept secret.

Maury Brady, a product of New York's East Side, has learned the craft of safe-cracking and shoplifting from her uncle, "Nunc." While "working" a department store, she captures a lost poodle belonging to Mrs. Hardage, wife of a millionaire. When Maury later is caught lifting some lace, Mrs. Hardage vouches for her, takes her into her home, and puts her to work on a crusade against profiteers.