When her drunken father dies from falling down stairs on the night of her engagement announcement, Helen Winthrop finds a note from him warning that drinking has ruined the family's past four generations. She breaks her engagement to lawyer Robert Craig so that she can test herself as she fears that her children might inherit the habit. After sacrificing her reputation to save that of her adulterous married friend Stella Scarr, Helen goes to a resort hotel where she wins a tennis tournament and flirts with Percy Farwell, the son of social climber Mrs. Honorah Farwell. In order to break up her son's romance with a supposedly disgraced woman, Mrs. Farwell hires Robert Craig. During a party, Percy announces their engagement, and Helen acts intoxicated to test Robert's feelings for her. When Mrs. Farwell convinces Stella's husband Sidney to accuse Helen of wrongdoing, Robert fights him. Helen then accepts Robert's love and admits she was only drinking ginger ale.