In the eleventh century, Lady Elfrieda, who married Baron Edward for expediency, falls in love with victorious knight Sir Errol, and arranges for his betrothed Maud, a lady-in-waiting, to be sent away. Before leaving, Maud pins a white rosette over Errol's heart, and he vows fidelity. Lord Kerrigan and other nobles plot with Elfrieda to kill Edward and replace him with Errol, who succumbs to Elfrieda. Maud returns disguised as a knight to warn Edward. Errol accidentally kills Maud, and when he recognizes her, he puts the rosette on her breast and swears to atone for her even if it takes a thousand years. In the present, Frieda, the wife of railroad magnate Pierpont Carewe, falls in love with Carewe's engineer, Thomas Eric, and sends his sweetheart, Joan Long, to Bermuda with her father, Carewe's head engineer. Although Eric almost succumbs to Frieda, Sir Errol appears in his dream, and Eric stops an assault on Carewe by his business rivals at a dress ball, where Eric is reunited with Joan, who wears a white rosette. -AFI