After years of fighting off the advances of her old flame Steve, Lisbeth settles into a steamy, casual romance with journalist Alan. Against the advice of her happily married aunt Celia -- who encourages her to demand a serious commitment -- Lisbeth continues to see Alan, even after she hears he may have a wife in France. When Alan's work sends him abroad, a lovesick Lisbeth struggles to understand her feelings.

While Ann and the son of her boss are out on a ship beyond the 12-mile limit, which allows liquor to be consumed, the son, Frank makes unwanted advances towards her. While she is fighting him off, the ship is raided and the passengers herded ashore. Eighteen months later Ann is celebrating her one year anniversary to Lawrence Reagan when her young sister-in-law announces she is in love, and it turns out to be Frank. Ann decides to save her husband's sister from a fate worse than death, and goes to Frank's apartment to prevent an elopement. Lawrence also goes to the apartment that night, and everyone is entangled in a crime of passion.

All of those handsome young men in their flying machines are billeted in a field next to the Widow Berthelot's farmhouse in France. Her daughter Jeannine is curious about the young men fighting for England in World War I and their airplanes. Then one of the aviators is killed. His replacement is Captain Philip Blythe who can't help but notice Jeannine. When he lands the first time, she is standing in the middle of his "runway." She makes a more favorable impression when he sees her later by the lilacs. When all of the young men depart on a mission, Blythe promises to return.

Bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. One day, Tony shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno, claiming that her memory was destroyed during World War I. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian Army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case from Trieste that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.

A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.