Lord Desborough and Captain Mostyn, both officers in the same regiment, are suitors for the hand of Muriel. Desborough wins and marries her, and thereby incurs the everlasting enmity of his rival. Their regiment is ordered to India, where Desborough falls under the wiles of an adventuress named Vivian Darville. His flirtation is duly reported to the absent wife by Mostyn, and the resultant future trouble between husband and wife, is fanned into flame by the jealousy of Rupert Lee, a young officer whom Vivian has driven to drink by her broken promises. On the return of the regiment to England the Desboroughs open their magnificent home, Desborough Hall, where in spite of the fact that Desborough is on the verge of bankruptcy, expensive entertainments are given under the patronage of the Countess, known as "The Sporting Duchess," because her aspirations are in the direction of hunting, horse racing and other phases of sporting life, rather than the less exciting functions of society.