Lord Arthur Waring accepts a bet proposed by his brother, Mark. Arthur attends a riding/hunting event one day and behaves wildly and carelessly on his horse, causing a young woman, Helene von Gerold, to be thrown from her seat. Arthur later finds out Helene has been diagnosed as paralyzed from the waist down and feels enormously guilty (and rightly so!). He goes to his brother and says he feels that there is no point in his (Arthur's) life, he only hurts people, wastes money, and seems to have no ambition for anything worthy. He proposes to Mark a plan: That Mark pay him $365,000 (enough to spend $1000 a day) and let him "live it up" for a year. At the end of that year, Arthur would commit suicide and sign over his lordship rights (including his seat in the House of Lords which he knows Mark covets) to Mark. Mark hesitates at first but after much debate agrees to the plan, with a clause (to give Mark a clear conscience on the matter) saying that the amount given to Arthur would be a "loan" and that if it were paid back at the end of the year, the suicide part of the contract would be unneccessary. As the story progresses, Arthur develops a friendship and later a deep love for Helene, and of course, finds something worth living for but still feels bound by his agreement with Mark.