Helene Blair is the wife of a prominent businessman who neglects to give her much attention. He is thoroughly engrossed in business affairs. A day comes when she meets Duke Tremaine, clubman, man-about-town, and social parasite. And taking advantage of her husband's absence he attempts to assert his personality upon her impressionable heart. The result is society starts to gossip with the husband the last to learn of the affair. He loses faith in his wife for a time, but she shows herself eventually as completely misunderstood. After a brief separation Blair learns that Helene is above reproach. So a reconciliation takes place, but not until the trespasser is punished.

Lizette loves Jean but a 10,000 franc dowry insisted upon by Jean's father is keeping them apart. Paul, Lizette's "black sheep" brother, begs that she gives him her saved money so he can increase it for her - at the gaming table!! He does win but there are a few who are determined he shall not reach home with his money. Paul also suffers from a bad heart and with the stress he feels from being set upon, he takes refuge at an inn. He seals the money up in an envelope addressed to Lizette Rouget but dies before he can deliver it safely to her. Lizette is now destitute, Jean having long ago deserted her but the ghost of Paul continues to haunt the inn's bedroom to guard the money from "unworthy hands".

Mr. Clayworth, a wealthy American and self-made man, has a daughter Bessie, who is determined to marry a foreign title much against her father's wishes. She has an American suitor, William Brooks, who is deeply in love with her but he is given little encouragement. Mr. Clayworth plans to discourage his daughter with nobility and accordingly goes to an employment agency where he engages three foreign menials to impersonate noblemen, supplying them with evening clothes and arranging to have them call at his house that evening. Bessie is overjoyed when she learns from father that three noblemen are to honor them with their presence. Father incidentally suggests that if the noblemen do not come up to her expectations to patch up her little quarrel with Billy and say no more about marrying a title. The fun begins when the three bogus noblemen present themselves at Clayworth's house as Duke Macaroni, Lord Brien Berue and Baron Hasenpfeffer.

While their degenerate descendant sleeps, ancestral portraits come alive and admonish him.

June, a young orphan, is befriended by Perry Bascom when he shares his lunch with her on the road to Rising Sun. They soon fall in love and marry, only to find out that a woman in Perry's past has come to town to make trouble. Teaming up with the local political bully, the schemers set out to make Perry's life miserable, but June sticks by her husband to the end.

Well-to-do Mr. and Mrs. Gilton live next door to a large family, the Biltons, that struggles to make ends meet. Despite their desire to be friendly, Mr. Gilton is frequently irritated by his neighbors, insisting that they stay out of his yard, and blaming them for anything that goes wrong. During the holiday season, the differences between the two families become even clearer. Mrs. Gilton wants to do something to help the Biltons, but Mr. Gilton will take a lot of convincing.

Sedgewick Blynn is determined to marry a rich woman. One night he saves a child from a fire. Bessie Morgan, an heiress charmed by his act of heroism, promises to marry him, but at the last minute her father forbids it. Soon after, Blynn receives a telegram informing him of the death of his mother, and he realizes that he has wasted his life.