Lady Jocelyn, a favorite in the court of England's King James, escapes a forced marriage to the hated Lord Carnal by fleeing to American colonies. There she meets and marries Captain Ralph Percy. Pursued by Lord Carnal, Lady Jocelyn and her new husband eventually find themselves shipwrecked on a desert island with Lord Carnal. A band of pirates finds them there, and Captain Percy convinces them that he is himself a notorious pirate chief. But Lord Carnal casts them all into danger by revealing Percy's true identity.

Lady Jocelyn Leigh, a ward of England's King James I, joins a shipment of brides for the American colonies to avoid marriage to the dissipated Lord Carnal. In Virginia, she agrees to marry Captain Ralph Percy, a gentleman and landowner, although she does not love him. Carnal arrives in Virginia and orders the two imprisoned, but they escape in Percy's boat after besting Carnal in combat and throwing him aboard. They land on an island inhabited by a crew of pirates, of which Percy manages to place himself at the head. Carnal incites a mutiny against Percy, who is nearly made to walk the plank before the pirates forget him in their haste to attack a British ship carrying the Governor of Virginia. Percy's group foils the pirate attack, however, and Carnal, his plan foiled and his status with the king vanished, kills himself. Percy and Lady Jocelyn, who has learned to love her husband, begin a new life together.