Summary
In 'The Trouble with Wives,' a tale of marital intrigue and betrayal unfolds in the opulent setting of a high-end bootery. Grace Hyatt, a loving but frustrated wife, grapples with her husband's infidelity and the interloping presence of her college chum, Al Hennessy, and her mother. The narrative spirals into a tense triangle involving a Parisian shoe designer, Dagmar, leading to a climactic divorce and a surprising twist that redefines the characters' fates.
Synopsis
Someone has said, whether aptly or no, that the real trouble with wives is that "they they spend too much, flirt too much, nag too much and wear too little." The particular wife in this story is Grace Hyatt, and her husband William is the owner of an exclusive bootery, a high-sounding name for a shoe-shop. Grace is, at heart, a perfectly loving and amiable wife who desires more than anything else on earth to be alone with her husband, to dine only with him and to sit before the fireplace memorizing the days of their romance, but always and ever it seems that her plans are frustrated by the presence, as guest, of either Al Hennessy, her husband's good-hearted former college chum who always seems to do the wrong thing at the wrong time, or her mother, whom she adores, but who seems to inconveniently intrude. Despite all of this her faith and confidence in her husband is unbounded until a day comes when Hennessy accounts for Hyatt's temporary absence by informing her he has gone to lunch with Dagmar, designer of shoes, from Paris. And she discovers them together, which fans the flames, and mother adds a bit of fuel, making it a rather warm situation for Hyatt. Just when William has almost squared himself with Wifie and Mother-in-law, Dagmar persuades him to come to her apartment for the purpose of interesting him in some newly created slipper models. He goes there, but much to her disappointment brings Hennessy with him. Here a new phase of the triangle gets off to a flying start when Al falls for the girl, who in turn is very strong for Hyatt. That night the two men dine at Hyatt's home. After dinner Hennessy blunders along with no damage until he inadvertently mentions that they both have been to the designer's apartment. Mrs. Hyatt picks up the cue and the storm breaks in all its fury. She accuses her husband of being so interested in the designer he forgot to call at the jeweler's for her watch. Hyatt hastens to reassure her that he did call for the watch and it is in his brief-case at the office. He will go get it. He starts for the office and then suddenly remembers that the case was left at Dagmar's apartment. Arriving there the girl plans to hold him and has a siren-like idea which she puts into effect. She pretends to sprain her ankle and faints in his arms. The mark of her lip rouge is pressed on his collar and her perfume scents his coat. That starts the war all over again when he arrives home, and the battle ends in the morning at three when he leaves home for a hotel. The next day Grace makes her decision to divorce him, but happily before the papers are drawn AI Hennessy proves that he may be a blunderer at times but at other times he is a fast worker. He brings Dagmar to the broken home and introduces her as his wife to Mrs. Hyatt. That mean one divorce lawyer loses a mighty good fee and they live happily ever after, etc.
