Summary
The narrative unfurls with Cora, a young woman thrust into a new world when her celebrated Parisian opera diva mother, having transported them across the Atlantic, succumbs to an untimely demise. Orphaned, Cora finds refuge in the bohemian enclave of Marie, a muse for the burgeoning artist George Garnier. Though George is ensnared by the societal expectations of an engagement to the affluent Helen Van Brooks—a woman herself entangled in a clandestine affection for the club-man Carl Wilson—an undeniable, potent connection sparks between the artist and Cora. This nascent romance, however, is shattered by the revelation of George's betrothal, propelling Cora into a self-imposed exile and a meteoric rise as an operatic luminary in her own right. Years later, George, having severed his prior commitment, re-enters Cora's orbit, only to face the formidable Mrs. Van Brooks, who implores Cora to relinquish her claim on George's affections. In a crucible of emotional turmoil, amidst a bacchanalian revelry, Cora permits her long-standing admirer, Jose, to advance his affections, a calculated provocation that ignites George's indignant disgust until Marie, ever the insightful observer, elucidates Cora's desperation. The escalating drama culminates in a violent confrontation: Jose, alone with Cora, turns predatory, only for George and Marie to intervene just as Cora, in a desperate act of self-preservation, hurls a wine cooler, sending Jose careening through a window to his fatal plunge. With the subsequent news of Helen and Wilson's elopement dissolving the final vestiges of their complicated pasts, Cora and George are finally free to unite in matrimony, their tumultuous journey concluding in a hard-won peace.
Synopsis
When her mother, the operatic idol of Paris, takes her to the United States and dies, Cora goes to live with Marie, a model for artist George Garnier. Although George is engaged to wealthy Helen Van Brooks, who is in love with Carl Wilson, a club-man, George and Cora fall in love. When Cora discovers the engagement, however, she leaves and becomes an opera star. Years later, after breaking his engagement, George visits Cora again, causing Mrs. Van Brooks to entreat Cora to give up George. At a wild party, Cora allows Jose, her long-time admirer, to make love to her, which provokes George's disgust until Marie explains Cora's behavior. When Jose, alone with Cora, attacks her, George and Marie burst in to see Jose, hit by a wine cooler hurled by Cora, fall backward through a window, fall to the street and die. After they learn that Helen and Wilson have eloped, Cora and George are able to marry.
