Pierre Landis is insanely jealous of his beautiful young wife Joan, and his jealousy makes him take a branding iron to her to mark her as his property. She is rescued by Prosper Gael, a playwright, who is forced to shoot Pierre. He takes Joan to his secluded retreat, and tells her that he has killed Pierre. What Joan doesn't know is that Prosper is secretly writing a play based on her life--and, furthermore, that Pierre isn't really dead.—[email protected]
Joan Carver escapes the clutches of her father, who has been keeping her from contact with the outside world. A mountaineer named Pierre Landis meets Joan and marries her. Joan's father warns Landis that he has married the daughter of a "bad woman." Joan befriends the Reverend Frank Holliwell, which makes Landis jealous. In a fit of drunken rage, Landis brands Joan on her shoulder. A passerby named Prosper Gael hears her screams, enters the cabin, and shoots Landis. Thinking the man is dead, Gael, who is a playwright, takes Joan to his secret retreat. He had prepared the retreat for a woman named Betty Morena, wife of a New York impresario. However, Betty has not come to the retreat. Gael discovers that Landis is not dead, but does not tell Joan. Instead, unbeknownst to Joan, he begins working on a play with Joan as the central character. Joan decides to return to her husband's cabin, but can't make it. Gael finds her and brings her back. He takes care of her and cultivates her.
Eventually she runs away, feeling she has sinned against Landis. She finds work on a ranch, where Betty Morena and her husband Jasper are staying. She goes with the Morenas to New York, where Gael's play is about to be produced. Pierre finds his wife in New York and attends the opening night performance. He sees his wife leave the theater during the play. He eventually finds her and Gael, and begs forgiveness. Gael, convinced of Landis' sincerity, assures him that Joan has remained faithful to him. Joan and Landis are reconciled.
