The Mortgaged Wife (1918)

Overview

After Ralph Carter steals $50,000 from the bank where he is employed, his wife Gloria phones bank official Jerome Harris, a wealthy man who has loved her for years, and is told that the charges against Ralph will be dropped if Gloria will offer herself as security against her husband's "loan." Accordingly, she moves into Jerome's house but rebuffs his advances, and soon he leaves her in peace. When Ralph, who has been seen in the company of chorus girls, angrily demands money from Gloria, Jerome appears and orders him from the house. Because of the covert dealings of Meyer, Jerome's secretary and a German spy, Jerome nears financial ruin, which moves Gloria to pity. Having learned of Meyer's duplicity, she confronts the spy, and as they struggle, Ralph enters and is killed. Meyer is arrested, and Gloria realizes her great love for Jerome.