Cyrus Trask returns from the military to his farm in Connecticut, where his wife then takes her own life. He is left alone with his son Adam, but soon remarries and has another son, Charles. Adam follows in his father's footsteps and also joins the army, while Charles stays behind to run the farm. Cathy Ames is a beautiful young woman who accidentally ends up on the Trask farm. Behind her beauty, however, is a bad character, but she manages to disguise it well and to the Trasks she plays the sweet innocent girl. Adam falls head over heels in love with her, but Charles discovers her true nature. However, Charles cannot resist Cathy's charms and the two have a wild night, only to discover that she is already secretly married to Ada.