Will a woman "lambent like a great cathedral candle" find her purpose in life with the ambitious religious leader who preaches "beauty through toil," or with the brilliant young architect he has hired to create a resplendent new temple? Although he knows Herman Stein is a charlatan, John Chance accepts Stein's commission for the temple for the sake of building something staggeringly beautiful. Then Chance discovers that Stein's new helper, Cynthia, is the woman he fell in love with in Paris - and who now believes every word the charlatan says.