After being educated in England, Daisy Forbes returns to China, the country of her birth, and discovers that her father has recently died and that she has become a social outcast, owing to the public revelation that the oriental nurse who raised her was actually her mother. Daisy is in love with George Tevis, the nephew of the British consul, but she is disappointed by George when he is persuaded by his uncle to renounce her in favor of a diplomatic career. Lee Tai, a sinister mandarin, kidnaps Daisy with the aid of drugs and hypnotism; she is rescued by Harry Anderson, a rotter whom she soon marries out of desperation. When Anderson discovers that Daisy is an ostracized half caste, he bitterly regrets their marriage. Not knowing of the marriage, George searches her out, only to find her a married woman. Anderson forbids George to see Daisy again, but George defies the ban and meets her at her house to say good-by.