Summary
In the bucolic serenity of the Adirondacks, a chance encounter binds the fate of two disparate souls: Ralph Van Court, a scion of urban privilege momentarily lost to the wilderness, and Rose Hale, a country girl whose unassuming purity belies an inner fortitude. Their union, born of this fortuitous rescue, swiftly devolves into a poignant study of marital neglect when Ralph, succumbing to the allure of his former flame, Viola Shepard—now inconveniently married to his wealthy uncle, Stephen Van Court—rekindles a treacherous flirtation. As the novelty of his country bride wanes, Ralph's affections stray, his burgeoning affair with Viola becoming the scandalous talk of their social milieu. The narrative accelerates to a dramatic crescendo when the illicit lovers conspire to elope, their rendezvous at a secluded roadhouse poised to shatter two marriages. However, Rose, armed with the devastating truth, races against time to preempt her husband's uncle, orchestrating a masterstroke of deceptive loyalty. Her audacious act, designed to safeguard her young son's future and preserve his father's reputation, ultimately pierces Ralph's self-absorbed haze, revealing to him the profound, selfless devotion of the woman he so carelessly discarded.
Synopsis
The heroine is a country girl who marries a city chap and finds herself neglected after the novelty of the honeymoon has worn off. Ralph Van Court is lost while hunting in the Adirondacks, and is found by Rose Hale. The young man had been in love with Viola Shepard, but discovered that she intended to marry his uncle, Stephen Van Court, for his money. After the two weddings, Ralph starts a flirtation with Viola, and spends most of his time away from home. When his son is about 5, Ralph's attentions to his uncle's wife become so marked that everyone is talking of the affair. The big situation comes when Viola meets Ralph at a roadhouse after consenting to run away with him. Stephen Van Court learns of the affair, and so does Rose. She reaches the private supper room before Stephen, and manages to make him believe that he has been misled about his wife's duplicity. Rose does this to shield her son's father, and Ralph is awakened to his wife's true worth.
