A Daughter of the Sea (1915)

Margot, the motherless daughter of a New England fisherman, reads society magazines and dreams of a better life. She falls in love with a photograph of Jack Rutledge, a wealthy heir residing on the other side of the cove. For rescuing her from a burning launch, Jack's mother takes in Margot, a situation that provokes the jealousy of Jack's sister Adele. Enamored of the guileless Margot, Jack proposes marriage, but Mrs. Rutledge intervenes, forcing her son to court a woman of equal social standing. Dejected, Margot begs to go home, but her father insists that because her mother was of high birth, she is worthy of Jack's attentions. Margot learns of Adele's affair with a married man, Alexander Gibson, and warns her against continuing the romance. Believing Margot to be interested in Gibson herself, Adele flies into a jealous rage, and the lover is accidentally shot in the struggle. Margot is accused of the murder and nobly accepts the guilty verdict, but Adele finally vindicates her and she is able to marry Jack.