Summary
A cocksure plutocrat, Andrew Forsdale, wagers a king’s ransom—ten grand in 1920s coin—that his feckless pal Ned Randolph will succumb to Cupid’s arrow inside a single lunar cycle. Mutual crony Vic Ragner holds the purse and the gavel while three radiant applicants—Helen Leigh, Anna Hughes, Julia Gunther—arrive via newspaper summons like rare butterflies pinned to a board. Wagers, however, have a habit of boomeranging: Andrew, the supposed puppet-master, plummets head-first into love with Helen, the most incandescent of the trio. Off to Auntie’s country manor they motor for a velvet-weekend of moonlight confessions, only to have the soirée eclipsed by a blood-chilling theft: Vic’s storied diamond vanishes, its custodian left stone-cold dead. Suspicion ricochets among the house-guests until Julia’s serpentine duplicity uncoils—she is the thieves’ accomplice, greed masquerading as grace. In the aftermath, Helen and Andrew fuse hearts, Ned claims Anna but forfeits the wager, and justice arrives wearing the bruised smile of irony.
Synopsis
Andrew Forsdale bets $10,000 that his friend, Ned Randolph, will fall in love with one of three young women within 30 days. Vic Ragner, a mutual friend, is to be stakeholder and judge. The candidates, Helen Leigh, Anna Hughes, and Julia Gunther, are obtained through advertising, and Andrew unexpectedly falls for Helen. During a weekend visit to the home of Andrew's aunt, the three women are suspected of being in league with thieves who have stolen a valuable diamond and killed Vic. Julia is revealed to be the confederate, Helen and Andrew are united, and Ned wins Anna but loses the bet.
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