Dabney Carter, the scion of a fine old Virginia family, meets an untutored girl named Nan Baker while hunting in the mountains, and the two have a brief affair. When he learns that Nan is pregnant, he secretly marries her, but soon afterwards has the marriage annulled to wed Courtney Maitland. Dabney is fatally injured in an accident, but before he dies, he confesses everything to his wife, who offers to adopt Dabney, Jr. Nan accepts a large sum of money from Courtney, which she uses to establish herself in the city, while Courtney rears little Dabney as her own son, carefully keeping the secret of his birth to herself. Twenty years later, Dabney accepts a position with Senator Franklin, who is trying to suppress the activities of a group of dishonest Wall Street businessmen. Nan, who works for the gang, attempts to ruin the senator through Dabney, who believes Nan's lies and unquestioningly does her bidding.