Extremely poor and on the verge of starvation, Lady Milbanke makes a hasty decision to meet an old friend, the famous impresario Gustav Dessoff. To save herself and her daughter Carla from the poverty they had found themselves in, following the death of her husband, she agrees to go to Vienna with Gustav and sing in public at the fabulous Opera House.
To keep the secret of their identity they assume different names and Carla is told on no account is she to reveal who she is, and that she must say she is a friend and a companion. Whilst Lady Milbanke is rehearsing at the Opera house, Carla first meets the unpleasant Baron Otto von Erhardt and later the handsome, but mysterious Rako. As Carla's mother becomes the toast of Vienna, she makes friends with Rako and he shows her the wonderous sights of Vienna.
But unbeknown to her, the Baron has his sights on Carla, and Rako is not who he says he is. As events turn against Carla and she is placed in imminent danger, how she is saved and who steals her heart are all told in this wonderful tale of the magic of music and love.