Alimony

Summary

In the velvet-lined corridors of high-society matrimony, Bernice Bristol Flint—part serpent, part chandelier—brandishes rumor like a stiletto, blackmailing her spouse John into a gilded cage of alimony while she slithers toward the next fortune, Howard Turner. When Turner recoils from her venomous charm, preferring the dewy candor of Marjorie Lansing, Bernice’s bruised vanity metastasizes into a vendetta: she and her legal hyena Elijah Stone sow discord in the Turner marriage, whisper divorce, and twist every vow into barbed wire. Only the eagle-eyed attorney William Jackson unspools the conspiracy, re-stitching the lovers’ torn tapestry; cornered, Bernice turns the pistol on herself, her final curtain call a crimson ellipsis that stains the marble floor and the audience’s conscience alike.

Synopsis

Mrs. Bernice Bristol Flint threatens to destroy the reputation of an innocent woman unless her wealthy husband John grants her a divorce, and although John has not betrayed his wife, he agrees to give her a large sum in alimony in order to maintain her silence. Bernice hopes to marry millionaire Howard Turner, with whom she has been carrying on a flirtation, and when he confesses that he does not love her, she angrily resolves to ruin him. Howard falls in love with the refreshingly innocent Marjorie Lansing, who agrees to become his wife. Because of Bernice's interference, however, their marriage is a stormy one, and finally Bernice and her unscrupulous lawyer, Elijah Stone, suggest that Marjorie sue for divorce. She refuses, and later, Howard's attorney, William Jackson, discovers Bernice's schemes and succeeds in reuniting Howard and Marjorie. Defeated, Bernice shoots herself.