- A WWII tale of romance that begins during New Orlean's "Mardi Gras" celebration when a soldier and a girl meet and fall in love. He asks her to marry him but she decides to wait until his next leave. He is sent overseas and she does not receive his letter and feels abandoned, but she does find out she is pregnant. She gives the child to her married sister and does not see her child again for three years. She returns to her sister's home to reclaim the child, and the soldier, who has been searching for her, also turns up. The sister is not interested in giving up the child.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
- During Mardi Gras, Antoinette "Toni" Dubois is celebrating with her friend Guy at Pepe's, a crowded New Orleans restaurant, when she catches the eye of handsome soldier Dick Connolly. He contrives to meet her during a dance, and they leave the restaurant together. The next morning, they return to Pepe's for breakfast, and Dick proposes to Toni. Although she has fallen in love with Dick, Toni is reluctant to accept after knowing him for such a short time, but they agree to meet again at Pepe's in six weeks if their feelings are still strong. As time passes, Toni grows certain of her love for Dick and eagerly leaves for their meeting, during which she plans to tell him that she is pregnant. Dick does not appear, however, and the letter he has written to her explaining that his leave was canceled does not reach her. Desperately unhappy, Toni travels to New York City to visit her married sister, Renee Gordon. After Renee's husband Bill, a Naval officer, is shipped overseas, Toni reveals her secret. Renee then discloses that she cannot have a child and asks Toni to have her baby and let her present it to Bill as her own. They exchange identities and go away together to New Mexico, where Toni gives birth to a boy. Once Toni sees the baby, whom Renee has named Billy, it is difficult for her to give him up, but she reluctantly agrees not to see him for three years. Two years later, it is Mardi Gras time again, but this time, Toni stays home with her father, who is ill. He sees that she is troubled and gently questions her, but Toni does not reveal her secret. He then kindly advises her not to stay in the house if he should die. When he does die, Toni closes up the house and secretly travels to New York, where she spies on Billy. She befriends the boy's nurse, Etta, and when she learns that the family is leaving town for a while, almost kidnaps her son. Etta prevents the kidnapping, and later tells Renee, who immediately suspects that the woman is Toni. In the meantime, Dick is discharged from the Army and looks for Toni. When he discovers that she never received his letter, he proceeds to Renee's. While talking to Renee, Dick realizes that Toni had been pregnant and asks about the child, but Renee does not reveal that Billy is his son. After he leaves, Renee calls all the hotels until she finds the one at which Toni is registered. A short time later, Toni rings the doorbell. She demands that Renee give her Billy, but Renee refuses, insisting that after three years, Billy has become her son. Reluctantly, Toni admits that her sister is right, but when Renee tells her about Dick's visit, Toni insists that she is now justified in taking Billy back. When she goes looking for him, however, Billy runs away from her in fear and clings to Renee. Finally, Toni accepts the fact that Renee and Bill are Billy's real parents. Bill walks Toni to the door, telling her in private that he knows the truth about Billy's birth, but is very grateful that she let them have the boy. Toni then goes off to join Dick, who is waiting in the park.
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