When an unkempt woman who is barely able to speak arrives in his office, London attorney Alexander Armstrong is stunned to discover that she is Irene Baindor, a woman who holds the key to solving a mystery that has plagued him for twenty-six years.
Poverty-stricken dock laborer John O'Brien defends his family from a drunken father and brother before falling in love with his sister's seemingly unattainable teacher.