Summary
The Riggs family, freshly enriched by Oklahoma oil, uproots to a palatial estate in Ossining, New York, where their newly acquired wealth collides with the entrenched aristocracy of neighboring landowner Stephen Van Courtlandt, a man resolutely opposed to matrimonial entanglements. Mrs. Riggs, a social climber with an insatiable appetite for acceptance among the elite, engineers a match between her daughter Barbara and the aloof bachelor, believing the union will cement their newfound status. Fate intervenes when Stephen, while angling in a secluded brook, encounters Chimmy the Cricket—an escaped Sing Sing inmate—who persuades him to swap garments in a desperate bid for freedom. Disguised in the convict’s rags, Stephen is forced to flee the pursuing guards, scaling the wall of the Riggs' manor and slipping through Barbara’s bedroom window. Mistaking him for a reformed criminal, Barbara supplies him with the butler’s livery, inadvertently binding them in a public declaration of engagement to safeguard her reputation. The charade spirals as suspicion falls upon Stephen for the disappearance of Mrs. Riggs’s jewels; yet Chimmy, now an unlikely ally, assists Stephen in unmasking the true thief. Amidst the unraveling of deceit, genuine affection blossoms between Stephen and Barbara, culminating in a sincere promise of marriage.
Synopsis
The Riggs family, newly wealthy from Oklahoma oil, move to an estate in Ossining, New York, adjoining that of eligible bachelor Stephen Van Courtlandt, who wants to avoid marriage. Mrs. Riggs, anxious to break into society, wants her daughter Barbara to marry Stephen. While Stephen is fishing, an escaped convict from Sing Sing, Chimmy the Cricket, convinces him to exchange clothes so that he can escape the pursuing guards. Pursued, Stephen climbs into Barbara's bedroom window and Barbara, excited to be able to reform a criminal, gives Stephen her butler's clothes to wear. When Mrs. Riggs enters and Stephen explains who he is, she says that they must announce their engagement immediately to protect Barbara's reputation, which they do, although Barbara still believes that Stephen is a convict. After Stephen is suspected of stealing Mrs. Rigg's jewels, the Cricket helps Stephen expose the real thief, and Barbara and Stephen, who have fallen in love, prepare to marry.
Review Excerpt
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When the Riggs family arrives in Ossining, the very air seems to tremble with the promise of newfound grandeur, a promise that is as fragile as the oil‑slick sheen that brought them wealth. Their opulent manor, perched on a ..."
