Picture Play Magazine (Oct-Nov 1915)

Playing Dead (V. L. S. E.) By Robert Keene Jimmie Blagwin loved his wife and his wife loved another man. When Jimmie found that he was in the way he decided to "play dead." So Jimmie went away, leaving Mrs. Blagwin all that he owned. What Jimmie did when he was "dead," and the strange predicament he got into and tried to get out of, make most unusual situations. The story was taken from the V. L. S. E. production of the same title. Those in the cast included: Jimmie Blagwin Sidney Drew Mrs. Blagwin Mrs. Sidney Drew Proctor Maddox. . . Donald Hall Carlton Adams .... Harry English JIMMIE BLAGWIN loved his wife as few men do. He had just given one more proof of it in the document he now sat smilingly regarding in his hand. It was his last will and testament, drawn up by his lawyer and intimate friend, Carlton Adams. Everything Jimmie owned h; had willed to his beloved wife, Jeanne. Just then Jimmie heard her step outside the library of their suburban home. Dropping the will into the open book on his knees, he quickly closed the book and replaced it among the volumes on the shelves — turning, with a bland smile, to face his wife as she entered the room. "Good morning, my love!" Jimmie affectionately greeted her. "Good morning," returned Jeanne coldly. Of late there had been a growing coldness in his wife's manner toward him. Jimmie had noticed it, without in any way connecting the recent arrival of Mr. Proctor Maddox at the Country Club with the change in her attitude toward himself. "What's the matter, dear?" Jimmie asked her anxiously. "Aren't you feeling well?" "Quite well, thank you," replied Jeanne, her eyebrows lifting as she turned on the opposite threshold of the room to look back at him. "Why do you ask?" "Why — nothing, only you haven't been acting a bit like your old self toward me lately," blurted Jimmie, regarding her with the expression of a hurt child on his face. "What have I done? Anything to offend you in any way? Tell me, and give me a chance to set myself square with you, won't you?" Slowly Jeanne came back into the library. She sat down, a thoughtful pucker between her brows. For days she had been trying to decide on the best way to tell Jimmie. Perhaps it would be just as well if she were to blurt out the truth to him — and, lifting her eyes to his, she did so : "I can't go on living with you any longer, Jimmie." Jimmie's jaw fell as he stared at her. "I .beg your pardon," he said blankly. "You — what?" "I've found my true soul mate," his wife went on. "My marriage with you was a mistake at the start. There's no use going on with it — the mistake and our marriage, both, I mean. I want you to set me free, Jimmie. So that I can marry Proctor Maddox." Jimmie's face had gone ashen. This was no joke, as his wife's voice and manner plainly told him ; she spoke in earnest. And this was the explanation of the change that he had noticed in her attitude toward him during the past six weeks — she no longer loved him, but another man. Jimmie's shoulders drooped in resignation to his lot. "You're sure about loving him better than you do me?" he asked slowly. "Two years ago you were sure, you know, that you loved me better than you ever could anybody else — you said so, yourself." Jeanne shrugged impatiently. "I was a child then," said she. "I did not know my own mind. But I know it now — and I love Proctor, as he loves me. I have told him so." Jimmie sat down at the library table and pressed his brow against his two clenched hands for a moment or two. Then he shook himself together, avoiding Jeanne's eyes as he spoke. "I suppose you want a — a divorce as soon as possible?" he asked. Jeanne inclined her head in assent. "Please," was all she said. Jimmie rose, supporting himself by the side of the table. His face was still chalk white. In five minutes he seemed to have aged ten years. A trifle unsteadily, he crossed to the door. "I'll go into town right away and turn the matter over to Adams," he promised. True to his word, two hours later Jimmie sat in the lawyer's private office. "Of course, it will be Jeanne who's divorcing me," he finished his explanation of what he wanted the attorney to do. "That will bring her through clean. You can tell me what I'll have to do in order to convince the judge or the jury that I don't deserve to be her husband any longer, and I'll do it." "You mean you'll disgrace yourself, for her sake?" demanded his friend the lawyer. Jimmie shrugged indifferently. "She wants a divorce. I don't care what it's going to cost me, in reputation or money, to get it for her. That's all," he said. "If you'd ever loved a woman as I love Jeanne, you'd understand how I feel about giving her what she wants." Adams' eyes flashed with loyal indignation.