Infidelity and an accidental death force a society wife to leave her infant son.

Jacqueline leaves her husband for another man, and when she returns to take care of her sick son, her husband flatly rejects her. She leaves without seeing the boy; and beginning her path on the downgrade, she meets and helps a cardsharp named Laroque. When they return to France, her home, Laroque decides that because of her name he can squeeze out a goodly sum from her. At the threat of blackmail, Jacqueline, in a rage, shoots him and is subsequently defended in court by her son, who does not know her true identity. In the final court scene, Jacqueline confesses, without using names, that she shot Laroque so as not to allow her son to discover her degrading life.