Judith Damerest, the 'talk of the Town' in Regency London, is shot and paralysed in a duel fought over her reputation by Marcus, the Marquis of Rydon. Marcus is obliged to set sail for New South Wales with the crippled Judith as his wife. During the voyage his emotions are deeply disturbed by the presence on board of a beautiful and aristocratic young Irish girl. A brilliant operation cures Judith, and on her recovery she realises what she has to do to save her marriage from crumbling in the rough-and-ready life of early Australian settlement.
