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In
1875, Clio Dulaine, the illegitimate daughter of an aristocratic New Orleans
Creole man and a French woman, returns from Paris to her birthplace in
Rampart Street to avenge her mother's mistreatment at the hands of her
father's family, the Dulaines. Years ago Clio's mother accidentally
killed Dulaine when he tried to prevent her from committing suicide, and the
scandalized Dulaines then exiled Clio and her mother to Paris. Clio is
accompanied by her mulatto maid, Angelique, and her dwarf manservant,
Cupidon.
After fixing up the rundown house in Rampart Street, Clio
ventures out, hoping to encounter the Dulaines. At the French
marketplace, Clio stops for a bowl of jambalaya and is immediately attracted
to Clint Maroon, a tall Texan in a white hat, who is eating at the counter.
The attraction is mutual, and Clint offers to drive Clio to the cathedral in
his carriage, but a disapproving Angelique interferes, and Clio leaves
without him.
After the service, Clio, Angelique and Cupidon breakfast at
the restaurant patronized by the Dulaines every Sunday. Announcing to
the maitre d' that she is a relative, Clio sits at the table reserved for
the Dulaines but, when the Dulaines arrive, they recognize her by her
resemblance to her mother and leave without a confrontation. Clint and
Clio meet again at the restaurant; afterward he drives her home.
Eventually, Clint moves into Clio's house. Although
Clio and Clint are in love with each other, Clio, who is obsessed with her
plans for revenge, intends to marry a rich and powerful man to prove that
she is as good as her father's family. Clint, a gambler, who never
intends to marry, is out for revenge on the railroaders who ruined his
father in Texas.
While Clio continues to embarrass the Dulaines at every
opportunity, planning, if necessary, to interrupt the debut of her
half-sister Charlotte, Clint, exasperated by Clio's unrelenting
machinations, leaves for Saratoga. As the result of Clio's scheming,
the Dulaines pay her $10,000, agree to destroy the Rampart Street house and
bury her mother in a New Orleans cemetery.
Later, Clio joins Clint in Saratoga, where she plots to marry
wealthy railroad heir Bartholomew Van Steed. Clio's arrival with
Angelique and Cupidon causes quite a stir and, because the hotel is
completely booked, Clint, who is now calling himself Colonel Maroon, offers
Clio two of the rooms in his suite. Privately, he explains that Bart
owns a railroad, the Saratoga Trunk, which is suddenly worth millions of
dollars because it connects the coal country with New York. Railroader
Raymond Soule, the same man who ruined Clint's father, is trying to steal
the railroad from Bart. Clio poses as the widow of a French count, a
claim that many doubt until she is unexpectedly backed up by socialite Mrs.
Coventry Bellop, who intensely dislikes Van Steed's mother. Clio's
beauty and melodramatic posturing quickly capture Bart's attentions.
In the meantime, Clint offers to save the Saratoga Trunk from
Soule in exchange for shares in the railroad. When Clio learns that
Bart is paying Clint to do his dirty work, she hysterically accuses him of
cowardice and sends him away. This excites Bart, who explains that he
knows about her background, but wants to marry her anyway. The costume
ball that evening is interrupted by the arrival of Clint and Cupidon, who
were seriously wounded during a pitched battle with Soule's men. Clio
realizes that she loves Clint too much to marry another man and nurses him
back to health. Clint then tells Clio that, having saved the Saratoga
Trunk from Soule, his railroad shares have made him a very rich man. |
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