Summary
In an era of burgeoning industrialism and stark class divides, 'The Page Mystery' unfolds a serpentine narrative of moral compromise, desperate flight, and retributive justice. We are introduced to Alan Winthrop, a scion of English gentility, whose chivalrous act of claiming a gambling debt incurred by his elder brother propels him into a world beyond his privileged confines. This self-imposed exile becomes a crucible for his character, leading him to America. Concurrently, the morally bankrupt financier Edward Strong, ensnared by his own liabilities, barters his daughter Edith's hand to the avaricious millionaire Ralph Cornwell. Edith, a woman of quiet fortitude, consents to this transactional union, only to recoil from Cornwell's drunken advances on their wedding night, choosing a perilous flight over a life of subjugation. Her subsequent despair, culminating in a suicidal leap from a pier, is dramatically interrupted by Alan, now a caretaker at Cornwell's secluded mountain lodge, Sylvia Lodge, where Cornwell assumes the alias 'Colonel Page.' The lodge becomes a nexus of simmering resentments: the half-crazed ex-caretaker Saul Potter, consumed by a thirst for vengeance against Page for a past transgression involving his deceased wife, stalks the periphery, while Cornwell's current mistress, Laura Le Moyle, simmers with jealousy over his dalliances with Kathleen Lorraine. The stage is set for a violent climax when Edith, now working at the lodge under Alan's protection, discovers her husband's true identity. Fleeing with a revolver, she inadvertently becomes entangled in the crossfire as both Laura and Saul independently execute their plots against Page. His death in the snow ignites a frantic coroner's inquest, where Alan's noble, false confession to protect Edith is ultimately unraveled by Saul's chilling testimony of Page's prior depravity and Laura's own tragic, self-administered demise, revealing a web of manipulation and sacrifice that culminates in Alan and Edith forging a new life together, cleansed by the crucible of their shared ordeal.
Synopsis
Alan Winthrop, the younger son of an English family, accepts the blame for his older brother's loss of five thousand pounds at cards, and is turned out of the house. This gives the young man the opportunity he desired, travel. In America, Ralph Cornwell, an unscrupulous young millionaire, asks Edward Strong, a bankrupt financier, for his daughter's hand in marriage, in exchange for which Cornwell will clear all of Strong's liabilities. His need for money determines Strong to influence his daughter. Edith tells Cornwell that it is to be a marriage of convenience. At the wedding supper Cornwell becomes intoxicated, and after the guests have departed Edith struggles to free herself from his embraces. She eludes him and leaves the house. Cornwell finds her note saying that she cannot live with him. Alan Winthrop, now in America, gets a position as caretaker of Cornwell's mountain lodge, and is told to engage a woman to help him. Cornwell impresses on Alan's mind that in the mountains he is known as "Colonel Page." Unable to get work Edith applies for a theatrical position. When the manager intimates that he will give her a position if she is "nice" to him, she tells him she would rather die. That night, while Alan is making his way to the railroad station, preparatory to leaving for Sylvia Lodge, he sees her jump off a pier. He rescues her. She tells him that she has nothing to live for, and he engages her to help him in the care of Sylvia Lodge. Cornwell has an "intimate friend" in Laura Le Moyle, who left her husband to go with him. At a dinner given by Cornwell, he pays marked attention to Kathleen Lorraine, thereby Incurring the jealousy of Mrs. Le Moyle. Alan and Edith reach the lodge, and Jaeger warns them that the lodge is haunted. Saul Potter, the half-crazed ex-caretaker of Sylvia Lodge, sees them coming, and realizes that Colonel Page must be coming back. He tells Jaeger that the chance to kill Page has now arrived. He stares through the window into Alan's cottage, and Edith is frightened. When Edith communicates her fears to Alan he gives her a revolver, telling her to use it in case of need. Going through the lodge to prepare it for Page's arrival, Alan comes across a boudoir, beautifully furnished. On a dressing table he sees a framed photograph of Edith. Page arrives with his guests, among whom is Mrs. Le Moyle and Kathleen Lorraine. He again neglects Mrs. Le Moyle and she warns him not to goad her too far. He calms her, tells her to go to her room. Kathleen Lorraine has no maid, and while Alan is locking up the lodge Page tells him to send someone to help Miss Lorraine. Mrs. Le Moyle hears Page tell Miss Lorraine that he will come back to her later. Edith comes to help Miss Lorraine, while Pages goes to pacify Mrs. Le Moyle. Returning to Miss Lorraine's room there is a mutual recognition between Edith and her husband. Edith rushes from the lodge, goes to her cottage, and taking the revolver with her for protection leaves. Page leaves the lodge to follow his wife, and then Mrs. Le Moyle is seen pointing a revolver out of her room at the same time that Saul Potter is seen pointing his rifle. Both fire, and Mrs. Le Moyle throws her revolver out of the window. Page falls in the snow, where his guests come down in time to see him die. Edith meets Saul Potter and seeks his aid in getting away. Alan finds her and the revolver gone and sets out to look for her. He learns that Edith must leave at once, although she offers no explanation. There being no train until the morning, she is forced to stay at Saul's shack overnight. At the coroner's inquest the guests give their testimony and then Edith is summoned. She says she is the deceased man's wife. Fearing that Edith is guilty, and wishing to spare her, Alan says that it was he who killed Page, giving as a motive the fact that he found Edith's photo in a secret bedroom, and knew that Page was a villain. Then Saul Potter tells his story: A year ago he was caretaker at Sylvia Lodge. Page sent him on a trip to get him out of the way, and then he seduced his young wife, keeping her imprisoned in his secret bedroom. When his wife died he swore to have vengeance. He waited for Page to return and then killed him. At this point one of the guests brings a revolver which he found under Mrs. Le Moyle's bedroom window, and the coroner announces that the bullet which killed Page was of the same caliber as the ones used in this revolver. Unobserved, Mrs. Le Movie takes poison. After telling that she left her husband and sacrificed everything, only to be thrown off like an old glove by Page, she dies. Later that evening Alan receives a cable from his father saying that he knew the truth about the rambling episode, and bidding him return to his home at once. Alan tells Edith ho will go on one condition, that she accompany him as his wife. She agrees.
