If Winter Comes

Mark Sabre, a man of genteel bearing, enlists the bright-eyed Effie Bright to serve as a companion for his aristocratic, icily aloof wife Mabel while he departs for the front lines of a nameless war. The war, a crucible of fire and steel, leaves Mark scarred—both physically and psychologically—upon his return. He discovers that Mabel, ever calculating, has dismissed Effie, casting her out into a world that offers no quarter. Effie, now a mother to a newborn, arrives at Mark's doorstep, pleading for shelter. Compassionate yet tormented, Mark opens his home, igniting a scandal that drives Mabel to abandon him as the town's whispers turn hostile. In a desperate bid for survival, Effie commits an unspeakable act—one that shatters Mark's fragile psyche and precipitates a nervous breakdown. The tragedy spirals, enveloping each character in a vortex of shame, ostracism, and irreversible loss, culminating in a bleak tableau of human frailty and societal condemnation.