Summary
In a narrative architecture defined by the rigid parameters of Edwardian propriety and testamentary caprice, Beatrice Hammond finds herself the unwilling protagonist of a financial melodrama. Her late aunt’s will—a document of chillingly specific social engineering—decrees that she must secure a spouse before her eighteenth year or forfeit a million-dollar legacy. This mercenary ultimatum forces a collision between romantic idealism and pragmatic survival. Beatrice, tethered emotionally to the departing soldier Ronald Farwell, orchestrates a stratagem of convenience with her guardian, Gerald Eversleigh. The arrangement is intended as a mere legal placeholder, a paper marriage to be dissolved upon the soldier's return from the harrowing trenches of France. However, the cinematic eye captures the slow, inexorable shift from guardianship to genuine affection as Gerald’s stoicism dissolves into unrequited longing. The plot takes a sharp, ironic turn when the catalyst of the conflict, Ronald, returns not as a conquering hero seeking his betrothed, but as a man transformed by the pastoral care of a French nurse. This subversion of the expected homecoming triggers a series of revelations that strip away the artifice of the initial contract, ultimately reconciling Beatrice’s heart with the legal reality she once viewed as a cage.
Synopsis
To prevent her niece from becoming an old maid, Beatrice Hammond's aunt stipulates in her will that the girl must be married by the age of eighteen or sacrifice a million dollar inheritance. Beatrice is in love with Ronald Farwell, but he has been called to fight against the Germans in France, so Beatrice approaches her guardian, Gerald Eversleigh, with a plan: Gerald will marry her, thus insuring that she will inherit the fortune, but divorce her as soon as Ronald returns. The wedding is staged, and all goes well until Gerald falls in love with his wife. Meanwhile, Ronald falls in love with a French nurse and, upon his return home, offers to pay Gerald to remain married to Beatrice. Gerald happily accepts the offer but refuses the money, and Beatrice discovers that she has loved her husband all along.
