Opera singer Franziska Goldmann has fallen on hard times, but a chance encounter with Queen Victoria's musically inclined second son seems to offer Franziska an opportunity to resume her career as a singer. But it is the other unpredictable characters in her life, including her German anarchist lover and a devious procurer, who may ultimately determine her destiny. The haunting story of a lone woman's struggle to escape her fate, this story unfolds against the ironically observed background of colonial society, from the waterfront brothels to the mansions of the rich.