Don Caesar de Bazan, a reckless nobleman, falls for Maritana, a gypsy dancing girl. When Maritana is insulted by a drunk, Don Caesar wins her love by coming to her rescue. The two go to Madrid, where the girl is summoned to dance before the Queen. Maritana also attracts the attention of King Charles. Don Jose, the prime minister, who secretly loves the Queen, plots to get Maritana for the King. To do this, he schemes to have Maritana marry a nobleman so she can enter the King's court.

Pierre Fournel is a violinist living in a Canadian village with his sister, Gabrielle. Gabrielle is tricked into a mock marriage by Rouget, but she keeps the matter secret from her brother.

Unhappily married to Sir Robert Grimwood, an older man whose only passion is chess, Lady Marion finds solace in the arrival of her old suitor, John Heritage.

Georgine Mazulier, the daughter of a French furniture dealer, is exploited by her father and Snyder, an American hustler, to sell fake antiques to millionaires. When she falls for a gigolo, they take her to America looking for a new mark. They settle on "Kippered Kod" tycoon Wellington Wick as her prospective husband but that plan runs afoul rather quickly.

Laline, a pretty young woman, falls in love with Dion, a young sculptor, but her mother wants her to marry a wealthy Englishman. Laline and Dion are visiting the gravesite of Laline's brother with a priest, and a cave-in traps the three in some long-abandoned underground barracks.