Elinor Shale's happiness at being engaged to Gerald Forster is interrupted by the arrival of her sister Lucy, who confesses that she will soon give birth to an illegitimate child.
Trying to win the Three C's railroad line for his home town of Topaz, Colorado, Nicholas "Nick" Tarvin journeys to India to secure the famed jewel known as the Naulahka, which he plans to present to Mrs.
Iris Lee is reared in the small town of Dalton by her deceased mother's friend, Martha Kane, and when she reaches adulthood, Martha's son Jim falls in love with her.
During World War I, young Englishman Hawtrey Burke captivates New York society with his charming manner and his skill at polo, but he incurs the scorn of the woman he loves, Elinor Warden, who, having recently returned from war-torn Belgium, cannot understand why Hawtrey is not on the front lines.
A wealthy old man is murdered after deciding to write his nephew out of his will. Fearing that he will be accused of the murder his nephew takes flight but, with the help of a young woman whose life he saves, he has to try and track down the real murderer.