The Martinache Marriage
Summary
In the bustling Parisian landscape, an accidental collision sets in motion a decades-long arc of destiny. Horace Martinache, a scion of American wealth, inadvertently strikes a young flower girl with his automobile. A fleeting act of unexpected magnanimity sees him not only rushing her to medical aid but also anonymously funding her future education through trusted intermediaries. Years later, back in the States, the currents of fate converge when Horace’s callow nephew, Eric, announces his intent to wed a European actress. Succumbing to the societal anxieties of his matriarch and sister, Horace, now a seasoned and unattached colonel, reluctantly agrees to a scheme: to woo the actress himself, thereby dissuading her from Eric’s affections. Unbeknownst to Horace, the captivating Sara St. Ypriex is none other than the very flower girl whose life he had inadvertently altered. Recognizing her long-lost benefactor, Sara subtly encourages his suit, a silent game of recognition that Horace, blinded by burgeoning affection, fails to perceive. As their romance deepens, a darker shadow emerges in the form of Roscoe Vandercourt, a nefarious suitor whose aggressive advances are met with Eric’s spineless inaction. It is Horace who decisively intervenes, protecting Sara, though Vandercourt eludes capture. Their connection solidified by shared peril, Sara accepts Horace’s proposal, culminating in a dramatic confrontation where Vandercourt, revealed as an international criminal, faces justice at the hands of Sara’s father, a man unjustly imprisoned years prior due to Vandercourt’s perfidy.
Synopsis
In Paris, wealthy young American Horace Martinache takes a young flower girl to a hospital after knocking her down in his auto, and leaves money with friends to pay for her education. Years later, when Horace's nephew Eric plans to bring home a young actress whom he met in Europe and wants to marry, Horace's mother and sister ask for his help in breaking up the romance. Horace, an unmarried colonel, indulges them and agrees to court her to make her lose interest in Eric. The actress, Sara St. Ypriex, recognizes Horace as her benefactor and encourages him. Horace, unaware that Sara was the flower girl, falls in love with her. After Eric fails to respond to Sara's cries of alarm when one of her other suitors, Roscoe Vandercourt, tries to attack her, Horace protects her, but Vandercourt escapes. Sara accepts Horace's marriage proposal and Vandercourt, really an international crook, is trounced by Sara's father, who earlier served a prison term because of Vandercourt's treachery.
