After Southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd runs off to marry Yankee Jack Sherman, her father, a former Confederate colonel during the Civil War, vows to never speak to her again. Several years pass and Elizabeth returns to her home town with her husband and young daughter. The little girl charms her crusty grandfather and tries to patch things up between him and her mother.

Joselito is the son of Colonel José de Alvear, Earl of Almond. When his heroic father dies in the colonies, the victim of a cholera epidemic, the child is held by her guardian and executor, his uncle Martin, who wants to take his fortune.