Aubrey Allington is an inventor with enormous ingenuity at dodging debts; but tradesmen all around are getting wise to his tricks. Just as he is about to resort to the desperate plan of inviting all his creditors to dinner and blowing them up en masse, he and his wife Louise discover to their astonishment that he has inherited a fortune from a distant relative which will enable them to pay off all their debts. However, begrudging the creditors so large a share in the money, they come up with an elaborate scheme which involves faking the indebted Aubrey's death in favour of the next heir named in the will, his cousin George Maitland. Unfortunately, Maitland turns out to have a wife to claim him, while their butler decides to get in on the act on his own behalf... not to mention the awkward fact that the real George is also on his way!