Ryder is wrongfully imprisoned, addicted to opium, and currently sharing his cell with a corpse. But things are looking up; some witnesses have said they saw someone else commit the crime he's accused of, so he's released. He arrives home to find his uncle and cousin have been working diligently to deplete his fortune. Much more surprising than that, they have duped a young woman into marrying him while he was in prison, telling her it was Ryder's idea. All the paperwork was handled by proxy, so Ryder is now facing a wife he has never even met.