The Toy Wife

Craving to see New Orleans, Frou-Frou fakes a toothache to visit a dentist there. Although Madame Vallaire accompanies her, she slips away to attend a ball. There she meets Andre, Vaillare's roguish son, and is immediately drawn to him.

Back at the plantation, Frou-Frou and her sister Louise befriend Georges Sartoris, a family friend who bears scars from prosecuting a white man who killed a black slave. Louise quickly falls for him, while Georges seems more taken with Frou-Frou. The seeds of a complex love triangle are planted early.

As suggested, Frou-Frou and Georges marry, tying the sisters to the Sartoris family. The union shifts the family dynamics and widens the circle of influence around the plantation. Their early married years hint at the privileges and expectations of their social class.

Five years into the marriage, the couple’s four-year-old son Georgie celebrates his birthday. Georges worries that his wife remains youthful and flirtatious, fearing the strain of domestic life. The tension between desire and duty begins to simmer.

Georges asks Louise to teach Frou-Frou how to be a proper wife, but the plan misfires. Louise ends up doing most of the chores herself, and Frou-Frou grows restless under the mounting constraint. The new arrangement unsettles the couple’s harmony.

Back home, Frou-Frou rehearses a new play in which she will star and re-ignites her connection with Andre. The renewed attraction threatens Georges and deepens Louise's hold on domestic life. The stage and the heart pull her toward a different life.

Outraged, she confronts Louise and elopes with Andre to New York City. The move marks a drastic break from her life on the plantation and signals a new, precarious future with Andre. The old family order is upended.

Six months later, Victor learns from Madame Vallaire that his daughter and Andre are living in New York. He collapses and dies the same day, leaving the plantation and family in shock and financial peril. The patriarch's death reshapes the inheritance and loyalties.

Frou-Frou and Andre struggle with gambling debts while poverty gnaws at them. Her father’s will would have given her half the plantation, but she forfeits her share to her son Georgie, choosing his future over personal wealth. The couple’s dream life dissolves into precarious ruin.

When they return to New Orleans, Georges challenges Andre to a duel out of jealousy. Though many expect Andre to win, he is shot and killed. It is hinted that Andre chose to lose, selecting pistols over swords to end the conflict on his own terms.

Time passes and Frou-Frou declines into poverty, dying of pneumonia. One evening, while praying in church, Louise notices her and recalls what Frou-Frou meant to Georges. The revelation stirs Georges to reconsider his past and his desires.

Moved by Louise's words, Georges visits the dying Frou-Frou and brings her back home. He hints that he should marry Louise, and Frou-Frou dies soon after, leaving Louise to shape the family’s future. The final act underscores love, sacrifice, and the cost of longing.