The Lady

Polly Pearl, a singer in a second-rate English music hall, marries Leonard St. Aubyns, a feckless scion of nobility. Leonard's father immediately disinherits him, and Leonard soon squanders his small stake at Monte Carlo. Leonard later dies, and Polly is reduced to singing in a waterfront cafe in Marseilles in order to support herself and her young son. The elder St. Aubyns attempts to gain possession of the child, claiming that Polly is an unfit mother. Polly entrusts the boy to an English acquaintance, who returns with him to England. Soon after, Polly goes to London, but, after searching the streets for weeks, she can find no trace of her son. Years later, having become the owner of a cafe in Le Havre, Polly witnesses a young English soldier accidentally kill a drunken comrade in a fight. Polly discovers that the soldier is her son and attempts to assume the blame for the shooting, but her son, with the instincts of a gentleman, does not allow a woman to sacrifice herself for him. The boy escapes the authorities and embarks for America and a new life, leaving behind him a mother contented in the merits of her son.