The Last Sentence

Summary

From the bohemian allure of Brittany to the stark, unforgiving halls of American jurisprudence, 'The Last Sentence' unravels a tapestry of fateful decisions and their devastating, generational repercussions. George Crosby, a New York legal mind stifled by his profession, seeks solace in the sun-drenched landscapes of France, where his artistic inclinations lead him to Renée Kerouac, a captivating fisher-maiden. Their whirlwind romance, born of artistic muse and raw passion, culminates in a clandestine marriage, a desperate act to shield Renée from her jealous betrothed. However, the chasm of class and cultural incompatibility soon becomes glaringly apparent to George, prompting a heart-wrenchwrenching decision: he dispatches Renée to a convent for 'refinement,' a cruel deferment of their union. Back in America, George attempts to excise Renée from his memory, only for a letter to arrive, announcing the birth of a daughter, named after him. His subsequent engagement to the sophisticated Cynthia Ford is shattered by the reappearance of a very much alive Renée, previously thought deceased in a convent fire. George's cowardly denial leads to Renée's tragic demise in the snow, leaving their infant daughter, Georgette, an orphan clutching a crucifix etched with a poignant 'pardon.' The child vanishes into the anonymous care of a landlady, later to be adopted by a barge captain, while George and Cynthia raise their own daughter, Georgianna, in a life shadowed by unspoken guilt. Years later, George, now a venerable Judge Crosby, confronts the ultimate moral reckoning when Georgette, unaware of her lineage, stands before him, accused of infanticide. The very crucifix he once gifted Renée, bearing the same etched plea, becomes a damning piece of evidence, forcing Judge Crosby to pronounce a death sentence upon his own unwitting daughter. It is a moment of shattering recognition, a 'last sentence' that irrevocably breaks him, yet through the unwavering devotion of Cynthia and the eventual return of Georgette's husband, Val, with their child, a fragile thread of redemption emerges, offering a bittersweet, if physically agonizing, lightness to George's tormented soul.

Synopsis

George Crosby, a New York lawyer, with a passion for painting, wearied of his legal duties, sails for Brittany, where he meets Renée Kerouac, a fisher-maiden, and sketches her as a Corregan, a fairy who destroys the men who refuse her love. Hoel Kalloc, her betrothed, becomes jealous, and George marries her, after saving her from Hoel's brutality. He soon realizes her inferiority and the impossibility of introducing her as his wife; so he sends her to a convent to be educated, promising to send for her as soon as she has acquired the polish necessary in his sphere of life. Returning to America, he keeps his marriage a secret and is struggling to forget, when he receives a note that a girl, who she has named after him, has been born to her. George later meets Cynthia Ford, with whom he falls in love, and on receiving word of the death of Renée and the baby in a fire in the convent, they become betrothed. However, during the following winter, Renée reappears, and when George denies that he knows her, she leaves her baby in the care of her landlady and goes away. The next morning in the snow in front of their house the Crosbys find her body. Clutched in her hand is the crucifix George had given her, on the back of which had been scratched the word "pardon." The landlady identifies her as the mother of the baby who has been left in her care, and George, placing the crucifix around the baby's neck, pays the landlady to take care of her. Four years pass and a daughter, Georgianna is born to Cynthia and George. In the meantime, Georgette wanders away from the landlady's home and is adopted by a barge captain. Raoul Kerouac, now a French naval officer, comes to inquire for his lost sister, Renée. Seeing Cynthia's child, he mistakes her for Georgette. George writes a confession, revealing the truth, but Cynthia destroys the confession without reading it, on account of her faith in George. Sixteen years later, George is now Judge Crosby, while Georgette has secretly married Val, the reprobate son of Mrs. Lewis, in whose home she is employed as a maid. In an effort to cure him of his love for drink, his mother sends Val away, and Georgette is left alone. A girl is brought before Judge Crosby, charged with murdering her baby, and her conviction seems assured. Among the evidence is a crucifix with the word "pardon" scratched on the back. The judge is seized with apoplexy, as realizing the prisoner is his daughter, he sentences her to death. He has pronounced his last sentence. Cynthia's love for George survives all else; she strives to secure Georgette's freedom, and finally gets word to Val in the far north, whose answer states the baby is safe with him. Val returns with the baby, and he and Georgette sail for Brittany on their belated honeymoon. For the first time in years, George's heart is lightened, although his body is distorted with pain.