Mimi, known in the Latin Quarter as "The Mad Dancer," poses in the nude for sculptor Verlaine. When her father later commits suicide, she goes to the United States to live with his family, but she is insulted by them for having posed for Verlaine. Mimi soon walks out and goes to live in Washington, where she becomes engaged to Keith Arundel, the son of a United States senator. Verlaine appears in Washington for the official unveiling of the statue for which Mimi posed, meets Mimi again, and unsuccessfully attempts to force her to marry him by threatening to reveal that she was the model for this statue of "the mad dancer." Mimi later enters Verlaine's room and smashes the head of the statue beyond recognition. When the mutilated work is unveiled, the sculptor in his fury relates Mimi's history to the assembled guests. Keith knocks him down. Senator Arundel later bribes Verlaine into publicly retracting his statement, and Keith and Mimi are married.