The Strange Woman

In Bangor, 1824, Jenny Hager cruelly shoves the terrified Ephraim Poster into the river, knowing he cannot swim. The moment nearly proves fatal until Judge Saladine happens by and Jenny suddenly claims credit for saving the boy. The act marks Jenny as cold and merciless and brings scrutiny from the town.

Several years pass and Jenny becomes a beautiful woman with a calculating heart. She endures an abusive, drunken father and secretly schemes to wed the richest man in Bangor, Isaiah Poster, who is much older. Her motive is wealth and security, not genuine affection.

Ephraim Poster returns from college in Cambridge while Isaiah Poster rules the timber business. Jenny resumes flirting with Ephraim, hiding her duplicitous plan to secure Isaiah's money. Isaiah remains oblivious to the old romance and the looming betrayal.

When Isaiah falls ill, he decides to visit his lumber camps, hoping to regain strength. Jenny appeals to Ephraim to arrange his father's death, telling him to return home alone. The manipulation underscores the collapse of any honorable path.

During a trip to the lumber camps, an overturned canoe sends both men into the rapids. Isaiah drowns, and Ephraim cannot or will not save him. Jenny has orchestrated the danger, and Ephraim returns haunted by the catastrophe.

Back in Bangor, Ephraim hears Jenny publicly accuse him of killing his father. He sinks into hopeless drunkenness and bitterness, distorting his relationship with Jenny and those around him. The family and business begin to fray under the weight of deceit.

John Evered, Isaiah's superintendent, goes to confront Ephraim with doubts about Jenny's story. He struggles to decide whether to believe Ephraim or Jenny, and the truth remains uncertain. The confrontation foreshadows a dangerous entanglement yet to come.

Jenny seduces Evered during a thunderstorm, and he becomes romantically involved with the affair. He is engaged to Meg Saladine, the judge's daughter, and their secret marriage follows soon after. The liaison deepens the town's moral tension and danger.

After their wedding, Evered longs for children, but Jenny reveals she cannot bear any. He loves her still and remains devoted, showing a stark contrast to her earlier opportunism. The fragile marriage becomes a stage for hidden desires and deceit.

A traveling evangelist preaches a fiery sermon that provokes Jenny to confess to Evered that Ephraim was right about her. Evered withdraws to be alone at a lumber camp, while Jenny's truth-telling sets the relationship on a dangerous path. The confession marks a turning point in their turbulent tale.

Meg Saladine travels to see Evered at the lumber camp, hoping to mend things or understand the affair. Jenny senses the threat and grows more possessive, heightening the risk of a dramatic confrontation. The emotional tension in the camp reaches a boiling point.

In a cabin near the lumber camps, Meg tells Evered to return to his wife. Jenny arrives in a frenzy, whips her horse, and her carriage careens off a rock into a cliff. She is mortally wounded, sealing the collapse of her schemes.

As she lies dying, Jenny articulates her true feelings for Evered, acknowledging that he has shown her real love. Evered has offered mercy and patience, contrasting with her earlier manipulation. Her death ends the saga of power, deceit, and desire.