Troubled with union problems in his business and lonely on his birthday because his wife, Martha, is out with a playboy, millionaire Timothy Borden meets unemployed and hungry Mary Grey in a park and convinces her to help him celebrate at a nightclub. Much to his surprise the following morning, Mary has slept in the guest room for the night. Not unmindful that Martha's interest in Timothy seems renewed, he hires Mary to stay at the house as an employee and they go out on the town virtually every night. Mary meanwhile has a positive effect on other members of the household: daughter Katherine is in love with Michael, the communism-spouting chauffeur, and seeks her advice; and son Tim is forced to take over the neglected business to keep it from running downhill, which Timothy had been trying unsuccessfully to get him to do. Complications arise when Tim falls in love with Mary, but is bothered by the affair he perceives she is having with his father.