Grocer Ricardo Bitelli--whose household consists of Mussolini, his horse; Toto, his parrot; and Annette, his 19-year-old charge--falls in love with Annette as her beauty blossoms into womanhood. His plans for marriage are shattered when Steve Randall, an unscrupulous dandy, enters their lives and proceeds to make love to Annette. Falling for Randall's youthful, dashing style, Annette marries him. Ricardo, broken-hearted but eager to assure Annette's happiness, turns his business over to her husband and goes to Florida. After the wedding, Annette discovers she prefers Ricardo; leaving Randall when he is revealed to be a bigamist, Annette goes to the Martinellis, wealthy friends of Ricardo's. Randall attempts to extort money from Martinelli, but Ricardo returns from Florida in time to stop him. Ricardo and Annette marry after Randall is killed in an auto accident.