Dr. Paul Carrington is a rising young surgeon engaged to selfish socialite Marion Ainsworth who resents the time he devotes to his profession. During an outing, Marion intercepts a crucial emergency hospital message meant for Paul, causing him to miss a vital operation and ruining his professional reputation. Discovering her deceit, Paul shoulders the blame to shield her and flees to a remote tropical island to live in solitude. A year later, Marion sets out to find him but is shipwrecked. She washes ashore on Paul's island, where he divides the land between them, promises to protect her, but strictly forbids her from disturbing him and his work.