The story
“The day Sidney Stone graduates from college he proposes marriage to Margery Leigh. Margery pleads for time to think over everything. Stone learns from his guardian a secret which the latter has been withholding from him many years. His father lives, he is told, and is a butler, employed by a wealthy man in the city. The boy, his social aspirations crushed, writes Margery the truth. He tells her that now he cannot hope to marry her, and that he is going to find his father who, from his childhood has provided for his a bringing up and education. The meeting with his father in servant’s livery is a shock to the sensitive young man, but he assures Stone the elder that he will immediately get employment and make a home for him in his old age. The pathetic letter from Sidney causes Margery to realize how deeply she loves him. She wins over her parents, and her father goes with her to find Stone and his son. The mettle of both young people proved, the ‘butler’ exchanges meaningful glances with his wealthy employer. The latter says, ‘Permit me to introduce Mr. Simon Rolph, one of the largest lumber owners in the country.’ The ‘butler’s subservient manner vanishes. ‘Wealth often spoils the sons of rich men,’ explains Sidney’s father. ‘I was resolved that when my son reached maturity I should know whether he was a snob or a man. And now,’ he added, smiling, ‘I have satisfied myself also of the loyalty of my future daughter-in-law.’”
Summary from Reel Life · 20 November 1915
