Internationally celebrated musician, Paul Ferraris plays the violin like an angel, but since his beloved wife passed away he and beautiful young daughter Gisela have been almost destitute. Now desperate, they arrive in Vienna, where Paul is much admired and sure of finding work in one of the great theatres. In the pitch black of the Vienna Woods at night, Gisela's rescued from a rabble of rowdy students by a mysterious stranger. And even in the total darkness, somehow, she knows she's safe with him – and somehow she falls into his arms in a rapturous, unseeing kiss.
With her father busily rehearsing for a major concert and love blossoming in her heart, life for Gisela is heavenly. But then in the very woods where they first kissed, her handsome stranger breaks the spell with the revelation that he's a Prince, heir to the Hungarian throne, and that he is leaving her forever to spare her the humiliation of a Royal family who will never accept the daughter of a mere musician. Gisela's fairy tale turns sourer still as her father faces death in a duel – to lose her beloved Papa as well as the love of her life is simply too much to bear.