The Great Mistake

Summary

In a Manhattan where fortunes are mortared with desire, William Collins—mogul of brick and betrayal—trades marble halls for the mercurial glow of Lily Anderson, adventuress incarnate. His wife, a silhouette of forsaken devotion, unsheathes divorce like a stiletto; the decree falls, and Collins flees westward with Lily, sowing seeds of ruin in virgin soil. A daughter, Martha, is born under a bad star—her face the ghost of the child he discarded. Lily’s death empties the house of heat; Collins parks Martha in a gilded penitentiary of pleated skirts and hushed corridors. There she collides with Rob, a wolf in unlaced Oxford, and elopes on a whim of nicotine and jazz. The tycoon’s answer is a parchment death sentence: disinheritance. He summons Landau, partner and viper coiled inside pinstripe, to draft a will bequeathing every acre to Hazel, the first-born he once forgot. Ink barely dries before Landau’s forgery swaps destinies; Collins signs his own extinction, glimpses the deception, lunges, is smothered, expires on Turkish carpet. Years ferment. Hazel, now Mrs. George Thompson, architect’s wife and social fresco, dances back into Landau’s orbit—he covets without recognizing the robbed heiress. Rebuffed, he weaponizes Martha-now-fallen, stages a shadow-play of adultery; Thompson swallows the lie, banishes his wife, drowns in gin. A child dies in a tenement cradle, a woman dies on rain-slick cobbles, two processions converge at cemetery gates where spouses mistake each other for ghosts. The press feast on the macabre arithmetic; Landau’s past, resurrected by a spurned stenographer, drags him to a final pistol-shot confession. Inheritance reverts, but no ledger can balance the weight of graves.

Synopsis

William Collins, a wealthy real estate dealer of New York, is infatuated with Lily Anderson, an adventuress, and neglects his wife and child, Hazel. Mrs. Collins learns of his infidelity and institutes a suit for divorce. After Mrs. Collins obtains a decree, Collins marries Lily, and they leave for the west. Their child, Martha, resembles Hazel. Several years elapse and Lily dies, leaving Martha to be cared for by Collins who places her in an exclusive school for girls. While there Martha meets Rob, a disreputable character, who induces her to elope with him. Collins receives a letter from the principal of the school informing him of the elopement. He decides to disinherit her. He calls his partner, Landau, to prepare a will leaving all his property to Hazel. Landau sees a chance to acquire Collins' fortune. He induces Miss Pierce, the office stenographer whom he has promised to marry, to prepare a will in accordance with Collins' wishes and another will leaving all of Collins' property to himself. As Collins is about to sign the first will, Landau substitutes the second document which Collins signs. As Landau tears the will which Collins believes he has signed, Collins looks up. A glance of the will he actually signed reveals the perfidy of his partner. They struggle. Collins is overpowered and dies. Hazel Collins marries George Thompson, an eminent architect. Many years have passed and Landau becomes a prominent social figure. He meets Mrs. Thompson at a dance. He becomes infatuated with her. He hasn't the faintest idea that she is the woman he has robbed of her inheritance. He declares his love. She repulses him. He is determined to win her and lays plans to this end. He endeavors to interest her husband in a business proposition in order to gain an entrée into the Thompson home. He is Invited to dine with them. During the absence of Mr. Thompson, Landau makes advances to Mrs. Thompson and she orders him from the house. He leaves, vowing vengeance. While at a cabaret he meets a woman whom he believes to be Mrs. Thompson. He addresses her by the name; she laughs and exclaims, "My name is not Mrs. Thompson; it is Martha Collins." He realizes that the woman is the sister of Mrs. Thompson. He comes to the conclusion that this woman will fit in powerfully in his plans of revenge on Mrs. Thompson. Landau meets Martha and her husband at their home. He engages them to enact a love scene so that he can deceive Thompson. Landau meets Thompson at the club and induces him to go for a walk. They draw near the scene where Martha and her husband are engaged in the love scene as arranged by Landau. Thompson sees them and imagines the woman to be his wife. He tries to lay hands on them as they flee. Landau accompanies Thompson to his home. Thompson enters just as Mrs. Thompson, who had attended a meeting of a charitable circle, returns. He stoutly maintains that she is unfaithful to him, and he turns a deaf ear to her protestation of innocence and drives her from the house. A year passes and Thompson, brokenhearted, takes to drink. Mrs. Thompson kidnaps their child and works for their support. Landau visits her and offers to aid her. She refuses his aid. The child becomes dangerously ill, and the slender means of the mother are soon exhausted. In their last extremity she recalls Landau's offer and calls to see him. When she returns to her home she finds her child dead. In the meantime Thompson has descended to the lowest stages of misery. He wanders through the slums, hoping to meet his wife again. He is attracted by a noisy crowd. Drawing near he finds Martha Collins stretched on the sidewalk in front of a saloon from which she was forcibly ejected. Believing her to be his wife he carries her to his home where she shortly dies, begging Thompson's forgiveness for what she has done. Thompson does not comprehend. He buries her as his wife. Both mourners bury their dead. Husband and wife meet at the gates of the cemetery. Believing that the woman before him is the ghost of his wife whom he has buried, he flees. She pursues him with the cry, "Don't you know your wife?" She finally convinces him of the great mistake that he has made. The story reaches the newspapers. The mystery is unraveled. Miss Pierce returns to New York after an absence of several years. While seeking employment Miss Pierce meets Landau. She reminds him of his promise to marry her. Believing that all evidence of his crime has been destroyed he maintains that he does not know her and shows her the door. Beside herself with rage she bares to the police the story of Landau's crime against Collins and his daughter. Landau commits suicide when the police call to arrest him. He leaves a confession. Mrs. Thompson regains her inheritance.