THE STORY: Nell Valentine is a no longer young school teacher, who for the first time in her sheltered life falls desperately in love during the course of a summer tour through Europe. Nell has planned this trip as a climax to long years of hope and preparation. But Ray Brinton, who has fallen in love with her and hopes to marry her, must tell her that not only he is already married but he is a fugitive from justice, having stolen money from his own bank. Nell is ready to marry him in spite of everything, until Ray’s wife appears on the scene and shows she is still deeply attached to him. Only then does Nell see that the romance must end. Nell insists Ray return to his family, and offers all she has to help him keep out of jail. Then she quietly steps out of the picture, leaving Ray and his wife together, and goes on to finish her trip, alone. The last scene is the classroom at Nell’s school. She presents an illustrated travelogue to her students, describing her trip. Beneath the superficialities of her comments, emerges the undertones of her experience. This has not embittered her, and in her closing words she emerges as a more mature and understanding woman than when she set forth.
