The Strange Case of Mary Page

Summary

Footlights hiss like serpents when Mary Page, electrum-bright tragedienne, steps into the half-lit gloaming of a rehearsal stage that smells of greasepaint and peril. Unknown to the chorus, the production of “The King’s Daughter” is mortgaged to David Pollock—boulevard panther, midnight lender, collector of porcelain reputations—who bankrolls the spectacle only to surveil the leading lady with the languid patience of a man plotting to own the moon. Mary’s heart, however, is mortgaged elsewhere: to Philip Langdon, a razor-sharp attorney whose whispered affidavits of love carry more weight than any contract. Each afternoon Pollock lounges in the velvet dark, pupils dilated, drinking in Mary’s every iamb while Langdon waits in the alley, collar up, rehearsing futures in which no patron owns the stage. The triangle combusts when Pollock discovers the lovers murmuring among cardboard battlements; jealous lightning splits his civility, and he orders the impresario to exile the lawyer. Langdon exits with a bow that is half promise, half threat, then stations himself beneath a flickering marquee like a sentinel. Mary, tremulous, retreats to her dressing alcove; Pollock, drunk on possession, storms after her, only to taste carpet when Langdon—summoned by a half-stifled scream—bursts in and delivers a flurry of fists that rearrange the mogul’s profile. Opening night arrives: chandeliers tremble, critics swoon, roses rain. At the gilded banquet afterward, Mary glides between toasts, Langdon loiters in the lobby’s marbled vastness, and Pollock—now a swollen volcano of gin and pride—rents a suite upstairs, bribes a bellhop, and lures Mary with a forged summons. She ascends; the corridor narrows to a guillotine of shadows. A gunshot, a shriek, then silence. Langdon, instinct pricked, follows the echo and crashes through the door to find Pollock supine amid shattered crystal, blood blooming like poppies on the counterpane. Mary stands frozen, framed by the open window’s night breath, her white dress spattered with accusation. Handcuffs click; flashbulbs erupt; the curtain falls on the first episode with the city howling for a verdict.

Synopsis

Episode 1: "The Tragedy" Mary Page, actress, is playing the leading role in "The King's Daughter," in rehearsal at the opening of the story. The show is secretly backed by David Pollock, man about town, who is in love with the girl. Mary is in love with Philip Langdon, a young lawyer. Pollock attends every rehearsal. He is really watching Mary. Philip Langdon, attorney-at-law, one day, keeps an appointment with Mary. He is talking to her on the stage when they are discovered by Pollock. Pollock is overcome with rage and orders the manager to show Langdon out. Langdon smilingly leaves the theater and waits outside. Mary goes to her dressing room. Pollock follows and attacks her. He is worsted in a fight by Langdon, who hears Mary's cries. On its premier, the play is declared a huge success and Mary attends a banquet given for the company. She is accompanied by Langdon, who waits in the hotel lobby. Pollock also goes to the hotel and engages a room, drinking heavily. He sends a bellboy to Mary with the message that Langdon wants to see her and she comes to the room. There she discovers herself trapped. Langdon, meanwhile, sees Mary leave the dining room and follows her. While he is trying to find out where she went, he hears a scream and a shot. He leads the crowd to Pollock's room, where he finds him dead. Mary is arrested.