Summary
A societal chasm cleaves the nascent union of city gentleman Gregory Van Houten and the pastoral ingenue Jean Haskins, forged in an idyllic countryside interlude. Despite Farmer Haskins' prescient warnings of incongruous lives, their return to urban vivacity swiftly exposes Jean's unpreparedness for its superficiality. The predatory James Hanley, a fixture in Gregory's social circle, initiates a calculated pursuit of Jean, simultaneously igniting Gregory's suspicions and propelling him into the arms of a more 'suitable' society woman. A misinterpreted incident provides Gregory with a facile pretext for divorce, cruelly severing ties and remarrying into his own echelon. This brutal betrayal irrevocably shatters Jean's wholesome innocence, transmogrifying her into a vengeful force. Years later, a chance encounter rekindles Gregory's dormant desire, unwittingly setting the stage for Jean's meticulously orchestrated retribution. Exploiting Hanley's absence, Jean seductively draws Gregory back into her orbit, causing him to abandon his second marriage. Hanley's untimely reappearance escalates the intricate web of deceit, culminating in a violent confrontation. In a shocking twist, Jean fatally shoots Hanley, then cunningly frames Gregory, placing the weapon in his hand moments before the police arrive. Her testimony at trial seals Gregory's fate, a verdict of deliberate murder. Yet, fate intervenes with a final, chilling twist: Gregory is found dead in his cell before his sentencing, leaving Jean to confront the desolate aftermath of her poisoned romance, her elaborate vengeance achieving a hollow, self-destructive finality.
Synopsis
When Gregory Van Houten went to the country to recuperate, he intended to remain only a few weeks and then return to plunge into the swirl of city gaieties. But when Van Houten returned he brought with him a country-girl wife and set upon himself the seal of new duties and obligations. Jean Haskins was the daughter of Farmer Haskins, who owned the place where Van Houten boarded. She was a simple child of nature, trustful and devoted to the new ideals of happiness that Van Houten brought into her young life. Farmer Haskins warned the young folks that they were storing trouble for themselves in marrying; he told them that their lives had been so different that they would eventually find that they could not continue happily. Nevertheless, they married and returned to town happy. At the first social function they attended, Gregory realized that his wife wasn't prepared for the butterfly life. One of Gregory's club friends, James Hanley, saw in the young bride a conquest. His attentions to Jean soon centered Gregory's suspicions upon them; meanwhile, Gregory turned to a woman in his own set for companionship. Upon an incident that looked worse than it really was, Gregory based cause for a divorce and won his case. Then he married the other woman, a society butterfly. The shock completely changed Jean's good, wholesome nature; she turned into a viper bent upon revenging herself upon the man who had violated his obligation and made a mockery of her love. Hanley gained his point, but in possessing himself of Jean gained more of companionship than her love as recompense. Years later Gregory and Jeanmet again and her beauty fired his heart with desire. Jean connived to reap her vengeance. When Hanley was called away Jean refused to accompany him, setting up as an excuse that a few months' separation would lead them to a better understanding of their position. Gregory takes advantage of a free field and Jean coyly leads him on. Gregory neglected the wife he married when he divorced Jean and turned all his attentions to Jean. Suddenly Hanley appeared upon the scene, and Jean made a way to a greater revenge than she had planned. The men engaged in a personal encounter and when Hanley seemed to be getting the better of the fight, Jean fired a revolver at the struggling forms and killed Hanley. The sudden outcome of the combat benumbed Gregory's senses. Jean placed the revolver in his hand just as the police entered and they found Gregory bending over the prostrate form of his rival. In the trial that ensued Jean swore that Gregory fired the shot, and her vengeance is almost completed by the verdict of the jury that Gregory was guilty of deliberate murder. But when the court guard goes to bring the prisoner to hear his doom, they find him dead upon the cot of his cell and Jean is left to contemplate the sad ending of her youthful romance.
