Michael O'Brien, the son of an Irish rebel against the English crown, is sent -- like many of his fellow Irish schoolmates of the day -- to an English boarding school, where along with his English colleagues he is to learn to grow up to be a proper Englishman. After a time, he gets to know a new student, Patrick, who is an Irishman raised in America. While visiting Michael's family on a school break, Patrick falls in love with Michael's mother. Patrick confides his love to a fellow English schoolmate, who actually works with the British secret service in Ireland and reports Patrick's confidences to them, because Michael's mother turns out to be married to a rebel leader. For that reason, Michael's mother is arrested by the British as a sympathizer with the rebels and thrown in prison. Patrick ends up confirming to the British that he saw the rebel at the house of his friend's mother and winds up working for the British as a secret agent, too. Will his love for an IRA sympathizer and his affection for her son mean the end of the rebellion in Ireland? Or will he end up turning on his British benefactors?