Vanity's Price

Vanna Du Maurier, a luminary of the stage whose brilliance is rivaled only by her exhausting pursuit of professional autonomy, finds her aspirations for a private theatrical empire threatened by the specter of physiological decay. When presented with the financial patronage of Henri De Greve, she recoils upon recognizing the man as the spectral remnant of her past—a treacherous former spouse and the estranged progenitor of her son, Teddy. This psychological collision precipitates a frantic pilgrimage to a Viennese clinic, seeking a pharmacological or surgical reprieve from the encroaching ravages of time. Emerging from this crucible of vanity with a synthetic vitality, Vanna orchestrates a Machiavellian intervention to sever De Greve’s predatory influence over her son’s betrothed, Sylvia. The narrative culminates in a visceral confrontation where the artifice of the boudoir transforms into a site of retributive justice, as Vanna wields a riding crop to excise the ghost of her past before finally surrendering her restless ambition to the domestic stability offered by the steadfast Richard Dowling.