In the Lion's Den
Summary
A lantern-slide of obsession unfurls inside a glass-roofed atelier where nitrate fumes kiss the air; Theodore Reibeth, gaunt book-learner of arteries and fevers, first beholds Mlle. Aut Nissen as she pirouettes between carbon arcs, her silhouette carved from mercury light. She is already myth—star of the kingdom of flicker, collector of velvet-furred carnivores who sprawl across her parquet like idle gods. The student’s ledger of bones is suddenly worthless; he barters his pulse for every visit to her gilded lair, where leonine breath warms the mirrors. Ruin arrives wearing the crisp accent of a telegram: patrimony devoured by phantom shares. The actress, amused, flicks open a jeweled checkbook, buying the boy’s future with a sum that weighs less than her panther-skin coat. Years ferment; ambition transmutes him into society’s prized physician, betrothed to porcelain virtue. A column of newsprint re-ignites the ember: she summons him, blindfolds him with a scarf still smelling of greasepaint, escorts him into the under-stage of her life—a catacomb barred by iron grates where amber eyes float like fallen stars. The scarf slips; roars detonate; claws drum a tattoo on his ribs until adrenaline hurls him through a skylight of mesh. From the balcony above, the diva watches her sacrificial offering flee, then kneels among the beasts, letting their tongues rasp her guilt away, enacting a private passion play no camera will ever record.
Synopsis
Theodore Reibeth, a medical student, is introduced to Mlle. Aut Nissen in a moving picture studio where she is taking one of the leading roles. He is attracted to her by her unusual beauty and charm. Circumstances later make it possible for him to see her frequently at her home, and he falls in love with her. Mlle. Nissen is very fond of animals and has in her apartments a private collection of lions which she shows to him. Reibeth's graduation is at hand when he receives a letter from his brother telling him that through unfortunate investments their fortune has been lost. In this predicament Mlle. Nissen comes to his aid and lends him enough money to finish his studies, which he accepts and graduates with high honors. Later at a reception Reibeth sees Mlle. Nissen flirting with another man. He protests very strongly and the controversy causes a rupture which separates them. Years pass and he almost forgets the celebrated actress. His wedding announcement in one of the papers, however, comes to the attention of Mlle. Nissen who asks him to call. He does so and the old love returns. His faith in his former love is still so great that he allows himself to be blindfolded by her and led into one of the lower portions of the house. When he tears the blindfold from his eyes he discovers he is in the den of lions. With death in a terrible form almost upon him he manages to escape. Mlle. Nissen seeing him free makes her own life a penance for the tragic deed she had planned.
