A Chinese man cares for the orphan of a dying woman who stumbles into his laundry.

Mimi, an orphan, is taken in by a drunken innkeeper and becomes a domestic. She meets Rudolphe, scion of a well-to-do family, who rescues her from the unwanted advances of a drunken hotel guest. They fall madly in love, but Rudolphe's uncle, M. Durandin, wants Rudolphe to marry a family friend, Madame de Rouvre, and writes Mimi a letter, telling her that she is ruining Rudolphe's life. Musette and Marcel, friends of Mimi, also try to break up the romance by introducing Mimi to other men, and Rudolphe becomes jealous and leaves her. Brokenhearted, Mimi declines in health and eventually throws herself into the river but is rescued and taken to the hospital. Realizing it is only a matter of time before she dies, she drags herself back to the room where she and Rudolphe were happiest. Rudolphe is there and she dies knowing that he loves her.

Seeing Cutey play the part of a maid of all work at a college play, Alys Trevor seeks an introduction to him and they soon become good friends. She takes him with her to present him to her mother, whom she finds talking to a stranger, Lord Goodbluff. Mama does not seem very pleased to meet Cutey. Later Cutey calls at the Trevor house to see Alys and meets Goodbluff there, who soon quarrels with him. Mrs. Trevor, entering in the midst of the dispute, requests Cutey to leave the house and apologizes to Goodbluff for the young man's behavior. Then she sends a note to Cutey, telling him that her daughter is no longer free to receive his calls. By a strange occurrence, Cutey's suspicions of Goodbluff are aroused and he determines to watch him. Noticing an advertisement in the paper for a maid of all work, inserted by Mrs. Trevor, he obtains the necessary disguise and applies for the position, which he gets.