The vulgar, egotistic junkman Harry Brock has come to a swanky hotel in Washington to make crooked deals with government bigwigs. He has brought with him the charming but uneducated ex-chorus girl Billie, whose lack of social graces embarrasses even Harry. Billie must be taught some of the amenities and a few basic bits of information. Paul Verrall, who has been investigating political skullduggery and is interested in Brock’s activities, agrees for a salary to educate Billie. He finds that Billie has a natural honesty and frank streak in her, and she begins to learn about history, politics, what Harry is, and what he wants. At a dramatic moment, she rebels against being merely a tool in Harry’s crooked schemes and refuses to sign the documents which she has come to learn are part of an ambitious effort to defraud the public. This precipitates a crisis as Billie readies to leave Harry for a new life of her own.