Sylvia, daughter of the duke of belham, is bored with the various young men she meets at lady lambournes masked ball. at last she escapes their attentions and makes her way into the cool, moonlit garden, where she encounters a masked stranger. the following morning, sylvias father reveals that he has amassed such debts from his gambling that the family can no longer maintain their high profile london life. they must return to castle belham and sylvia realises that she will never see her mystery stranger again. at castle belham, count von brauer enters their lives. in time, the duke loses a vast sum of money to him at a gathering. the count offers to overlook the debt in return for sylvias hand in marriage. at first, sylvia refuses, but when the duke suffers a nervous collapse, her resistence crumbles. only a stranger from the past can rescue her from her nightmare... only the stars in the sky can point the way.
