The handsome scoundrel Nigel Gilchrist lies dead on a Scottish hillside, his neck broken in a fight with his cousin Alick. His widow, Jennie, cause of the fight, and Alick will, if caught, be considered adulterers and hanged. The pair flee through the mountains and to get to the seacoast where they hope to go their separate ways - Jennie to her sisters in England, Alick to America.