In 1875, Clio Dulaine, the illegitimate daughter of an aristocratic New Orleans French Creole father and his beloved mistress, returns from Paris to her birthplace in Rampart Street to avenge her recently deceased mother's mistreatment at the hands of her father's family. Clio's mother tried to commit suicide when Dulaine told her that his family had forced him to marry. She accidentally shot and killed him. The Dulaines supported her mother on condition she  remain in Paris. Clio is accompanied by her mulatto maid, Angelique, and her dwarf manservant, Cupidon.