- Famous romance writer Hartly Poole retreats to the country for inspiration. There he meets ardent admirer Justina Chaffin, who is about to marry a fortune-hunting scoundrel. After Justina and Hartly fall in love, she discovers her fiancé's deception and flees to Hartly's cottage. Seeing her car parked in front, the sheriff accuses Hartly of abduction, but all is resolved when Justina and Hartly exchange vows.—Pamela Short
- Justine Gibbs, a romantic small-town girl, has been inveigled into an engagement with Ralph Gaylor, who cares only for the fortune she will bring him. In the meantime young Hartly Poole, a successful author of romantic novels, has run out of inspiration and is in despair about his next serial, the first installment of which is due in a week. His editor sends him down to his own home in the country where he asserts the young man will find an idea on every bush. Hartly starts for the village, which happens to be also the home of Justine, and true to the editor's prediction he collides with romance the moment he steps off the train in the shape of Justine herself who has come to buy a supply of her favorite magazines. The two make friends over their amusing encounter and she takes him in her car to "The Stone House" which is to be his residence. Later he decides to engage a housekeeper and Justine sends him her own personal maid, the trusty and middle-aged Clara. Soon afterwards Justine stops at the "Stone House" to see Clara and asks about the novel. Hartly tells her he has the heroine in love with the hero but doesn't know what to do with them next. Justine suggests having the hero abduct the heroine and drives off. Hartly follows her advice and soon after phones her about the color of her eyes, for research of course. Thus the queer courtship proceeds to its climax, the author not realizing that he is living every bit of his thrilling novel in his own experiences with Justine. The climax comes when Justine finds out how unworthy her fiancé is and resolves to punish him. She allows the preparations for the wedding to proceed until the very hour before the ceremony when she flies to the "Stone House" to Clara, and Hartly. Hartly, absorbed in his writing, pays but scant attention to her until a searching party that has set out to look for the runaway bride, enters his home. It seems he had in a moment of discouragement, telegraphed back to his editor that he had his heroine stuck, didn't know what to do with her next in the novel, and the humorous answer had come back: "Why don't you abduct her?" The village detective finding the telegram had thought it a clue and hence the abrupt entrance of the searching party. Ralph Gaylor threatens to disgrace her by saying he found her alone with Hartly. Justine tells the young author that the only escape from the situation is for them to get married at once. Hartly agrees in an absent-minded sort of a way, until the happy thought strikes him that he will be furnished with unlimited material by his vivacious bride and Justine is happy in the thought that here at last is Real Romance.
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