Gerald is a quiet, amiable man with little confidence in himself and his talents and abilities. He has friends, but he is an essentially lonely man. He does not want the entanglement of a relationship and so visits brothels and finally—when fate forces him into it—sets up his own mistress. Fate has a great deal more in store for him after that.

Priscilla Wentworth is a lady. However, after the sudden deaths of her father and brother, she is tossed out of her home and is destitute. She goes to London to seek help from her former governess only to find that the "finishing school" Miss Blythe runs is actually a brothel. When Priscilla can find no alternative, she refuses to live on the charity of her old governess and insists upon earning her living as all the other girls in the house do. And so she meets Sir Gerald Stapleton, who becomes one of her regulars and about whom she begins to weave romantic fantasies, even though doing so is strictly against the rules of the house. Then, just when she thinks he is going away and she will not see him again, he offers to take her from the brothel and set her up as his mistress.