Summary
In the twilight of the Gilded Age, Barbara Wright orchestrates a radical departure from her aristocratic destiny, forsaking the predictable comfort of a union with the affluent Freddy Ruyter to embrace the precarious vitality of Dan Murray, her father’s Irish chauffeur. This act of romantic insurrection plunges the couple into a harrowing struggle for subsistence, as the newlyweds attempt to navigate the crushing weight of penury on a meager stipend. Their tribulations are not merely economic but are actively engineered by Barbara’s father, a man whose patriarchal pride manifests as a vitriolic campaign of professional sabotage against Dan. As the narrative reaches a crescendo of desperation, Dan seeks salvation on the high-speed tracks of an automotive race, securing a windfall that he immediately—and clandestinely—bestows upon Minnie Molloy to save her dying husband. This gesture of profound altruism, misinterpreted by Barbara as a clandestine infidelity, threatens to finalize the dissolution of their marriage. Only when the father's legal apparatus attempts to bribe Dan into an annulment does the truth of his nobility emerge, forcing a reconciliation that bridges the chasm between the boardroom and the garage.
Synopsis
Engaged to the wealthy Freddy Ruyter, Barbara Wright favors her father's handsome Irish chauffeur, Dan Murray, and marries him. The newlyweds struggle to survive on Dan's meager income, but Barbara's father, furious with them both, nearly destroys their happiness by securing Dan's dismissal from several jobs. Dan wins $300 in an auto race but immediately gives it to Minnie Molloy, whose ailing husband has been ordered West for his health. Unaware of the reason for Dan's actions, Barbara sadly returns to her triumphant father. Mr. Wright's lawyer offers Dan a large sum of money to have the marriage annulled, and when Dan refuses, the lawyer discovers the truth about his "other woman." Touched by Dan's generosity, Mr. Wright accepts him into the family, and Barbara happily returns to her husband.
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