Blanche, the daughter of a self-made millionaire, is not ambitious like her mother and older sister. She says she is a climber for happiness, marriage, and love, not for wealth. She marries Richard Sterling after he tells her other suitor, Ned Warden, that they are engaged. After Blanche's father dies, Richard neglects her and engages in stock-market speculation with securities from her father and others. His open love affair with a notorious woman causes Blanche suffering, but Ned stands by her. When Richard's deals fall through, Ned prevents his escape. After Richard confesses, in a room lit only by lightning, to his dishonesty and to being a climber after wealth, Ned helps him by persuading James Garfield Trotter, a newly-rich man intent on becoming a social climber, to back Richard's notes. After Richard dies from an overdose of headache pills, Blanche realizes her love for Ned.
—Pamela Short