On 28 April 1876, Leopold is the orphaned and impoverished 3rd Duke of Albany, living in New York City with his uncle, Millard Mountbatten, under the care of the butler by the name of Otis. Conversant with the arts and sciences, he has designed and modelled a prototype Otis elevator, but Uncle Millard exhorts him to return to reality and marry a wealthy American heiress.