On his wedding night in 1898, Griffith Smolders, already unnerved by the conjugal duties that await him, is chased around his hotel room by ball lightning -- and he takes it as a sign that he is not ready to be a husband. Jumping out the window, he flees into the night, leaving behind his bride. When the immodest and beautiful Avice realizes she’s been abandoned, she swears she will exact a suitably nasty revenge.