Alicia, the daughter of a poor man, is very ill and needs to be sent away for expensive treatment. The father appeals to his wealthy employer for aid. The rich man, seeing a picture of the girl, becomes infatuated with her and agrees to save her life if the father will give his word of honor that she will marry him when she recovers. The promise is given and when Alicia returns cured, she learns of the pledge. She marries the man without love, but he wants her heart and assures her that he win demand nothing of her until she comes to him of her own free will. He sets about to win her love, but fails even by giving her fine gifts and making her the queen of society. To get honors to lay at her feet, he accepts the nomination for mayor, but he refuses to promise the bosses his support after the election if they help him before, so he is defeated. The wife knows the stand her husband took and begins to honor him. During the campaign, the political bosses incite the employees of his factory to strike and while the strike is on, the men get desperate and blow up the factory. Counting himself a failure, he determines to go away and tells his wife in time she can get a divorce. But Alicia has come to love him and he finds that it is not riches and power that win a woman’s heart.