Happiness of Three Women
Summary
Moonlit jealousy detonates inside a lakeside manor where Constance Barr—porcelain skin, pulse like a frightened sparrow—waits for her railroad-baron husband Mark to throttle her with suspicion. A reception teems with silk and secrets: Myrtle Gale, Constance’s former rival-in-love, arrives on the arm of Billy Craig, the very man Constance once promised to marry. Mark’s gaze turns flint; a casual reminiscence between old flames is decoded as treason. He exiles Billy from his gilt-edged kingdom. Myrtle flees to the city, promising to return on the dusk train. Fate, capricious puppeteer, strands both spouses on separate delays. Constance, desperate to placate the storm she senses brewing in Mark’s breast, commandeers Billy’s gleaming roadster for what should be a ten-minute spin. Instead, the lovers—never quite lovers—wander into a labyrinth of unmarked country lanes, their headlights carving golden wounds through the dark. Hours stretch; guilt festers. A roadside tavern, half-tavern, half-bordello, offers shelter and the taste of ashes. Lightning splits an ancient oak; the fallen colossus blocks the path of Fletcher, timid bank cashier, whose approaching automobile becomes the hinge upon which destinies pivot. While the tree smolders, Monck, the bank’s crocodilian watchman, smashes the vault, stuffs his coat with currency, then plants Fletcher’s watch-charm at the crime scene. The law, blind as ever, claps the innocent clerk behind iron. Fletcher’s wife weeps; Myrtle paces the platform; Constance cowers behind a Japanese screen in Billy’s law office, certain her husband will sniff out her indiscretion. Billy, agile as a card-sharp, stages a shadow-play: stenographer behind the screen, Monck lured by false promises, confession wrung from the darkness. Mark bursts in, finds not his wife but a decoy, and the immaculate geometry of suspicion collapses. Fletcher walks free; Mrs. Fletcher’s tears transmute to diamonds of relief; Myrtle flings herself into Billy’s arms, doubly jubilant that her fiancé has redeemed two marriages in one swoop. Constance steps into the dawn, blinking, her reputation intact, her heart still quivering like a released bowstring.
Synopsis
Constance, the beautiful wife of Mark Barr, is in fear of her husband's jealousy. Among the guests at their reception are Myrtle Gale and her fiancé, Billy Craig, to whom Constance was at one time engaged. Mark misinterprets a friendly chat between the two and forbids Billy to visit his house. Myrtle goes to the city, and is to return on an early evening train, on which Constance also expects her husband. Both are delayed and Constance persuades Billy, who has come to meet Myrtle, to take her for a ride in his new car. They lose their way and are out nearly all night. Constance is beset with fear at her husband's anger. Billy takes Constance to an inn for a bite to eat and they discover it is a notorious roadhouse. On their way out of the grounds, lightning strikes a tree which falls in the road as another automobile, driven by Fletcher, cashier of the bank, approaches. Monck, watchman at the bank, learning that Fletcher has gone out, breaks open the safe and takes a large sum of money. As an alibi he takes a watch charm which belongs to Fletcher, to the police, and tells them Fletcher overpowered him and robbed the bank. Fletcher is placed in jail and sends for Billy. Mrs. Fletcher also seeks his aid. Constance goes to Billy's office and hides behind a screen as her husband enters. She sneezes but Billy will not allow Mark to look behind the screen. Constance pictures the difference in size between the watchman and the cashier. Billy places his stenographer behind the screen, sends for Monck and secures his confession. Mark comes in and finds the stenographer behind the screen and Constance's happiness is assured. Fletcher is released and Mrs. Fletcher is made happy, while Billy goes to his sweetheart who is doubly happy in the knowledge that Billy has caused justice to be done.
