The Branding Iron plot
""YOU'RE THE IMAGE OF YOUR MOTHER WITH THEM BIG EYES A-STARING." Joan Carver lived a life of terror in a lonely cabin in the mountains, bullied and beaten by a father who insanely hated her sex."
Young Joan flees her murderous father and marries rancher John Carver. She ends up in the rain when it turns out that John is sickly jealous and even beats her with a branding iron. She is rescued by Prosper Gael, who later writes a play based on the events of Joan's life. When Joan finds out about this, she gets angry and leaves him. A while later she attends a performance of the play.