Love in High Gear

Ronald Courtney drags his fiancée Betty out of a friend's wedding when he sees Donald Ransome smiling at her. Ronald is jealous of Donald, and argues with Betty about him. Unknown to them, Donald has stolen a wedding gift of a pearl necklace and while hiding in the bushes near them, overhears their discussion. Ronald and Betty decide to elope that night and marry upstate, where Ronald's uncle is a minister and his cousin is county clerk, and where his aunt and uncle Arabella and Thaddeus Heath can witness the marriage. So as not to arouse suspicion, they agree to travel separately. They are surprised when Donald emerges from the bushes, but he promises to keep their plan secret, and on Betty's insistence, escorts her to the house while Ronald leaves. Slow-witted Detective Duffy, who was hired to watch the presents but was distracted by the French maid, Marie, discovers the necklace is missing and orders the butler, Hawkins, to lock the gates to the grounds to prevent anyone from leaving. Ronald races through just as Hawkins, unable to prevent his departure, closes the gates. Hawkins does prevent Betty from leaving, however, and Donald has also been detained. After Duffy searches Betty's suitcase, he goes into another room, and Betty goes upstairs to be searched by Marie. Donald slips the pearls into Betty's suitcase, and when she is allowed to leave, hints that he may see her soon. Ronald, meanwhile, has had a car accident and is nursing an injured head at a farmer's house. Betty arrives upstate at Peak Inn, where both the proprietor and maid seem to be deaf, and checks into the bridal suite as "Mrs. Dibblewhistle." Soon after, she is surprised to find Donald in her room, and concludes he is trying to break up her relationship with Ronald. Donald soon resolves this misconception, however, as he induces her to open her suitcase and then removes the pearls. Betty is surprised that such a wealthy and dashing young man is a thief, and believes that he has inherited kleptomania from his family. Arabella and Thaddeus arrive and check into the room next to Betty's, which has an adjoining bathroom. They are surprised to see Betty peeking out of the "Dibblewhistles'" room, and, while Donald hides, she explains why she checked in under an assumed name. Donald keeps trying to sneak out, but is finally forced to hide in a closet. Detective Duffy comes in search of Ronald, and immediately puts him in handcuffs when he arrives, assuming that he is the only person who could have stolen the pearls. Ronald is outraged, and when Duffy tries to take him away, he escapes and runs into Betty's room, where Donald is hiding in the closet. A mad chase ensues, with everyone after Ronald. Hoping to catch Ronald, Duffy hides in the shower between Betty and the Heaths' rooms. Finally, Ronald hides in the closet, and becomes infuriated when he finds Donald in there as well. The two men struggle until the closet falls over and they break out. Donald slips the pearls into a valuable Heath family vase. After the Heaths chase Duffy from their bathroom into Betty's room, two new arrivals, Señorita del Val and Ziegman, confound the situation. The señorita demands her pearls from Donald, and when he starts to hand her the vase, she dashes it to the floor. Donald picks up the pearls from amid the shards, and explains that Ziegman had inadvertently purchased pearls that had been stolen from the señorita and given them as a wedding gift. When the pearls were traced to Ziegman, he was afraid of asking for their return, as it would ruin him socially, so he asked Donald, a good friend, to retrieve them for him, as he would be attending the wedding anyway. Donald and Ziegman convince Duffy to leave the matter as an unsolved mystery, as his son works for Ziegman and is due for a raise. It is clear that Donald is in love with the señorita, and after he apologizes to Ronald, they leave. With the situation resolved, Ronald and Betty finally have time to embrace.