... and this odd episode of Gunsmoke shows that was particularly true for one guy.
John Larch plays Jim Cobbett, a pretty well liked 40ish homesteader with a nice spread living outside of Dodge. However, Hank Luz is spreading rumors that Cobbett killed his first wife - she disappeared without a trace - and now he is getting ready to marry a second time. Luz has a grudge against Cobbett because Cobbett legally claimed a piece of land with water on it before Luz could. Matt doesn't believe the rumors, and he and Chester attend the nuptials for Cobbett and the bride, who knew Jim back east and has, up to now, always lived back east.
Shortly thereafter, Luz appears in Matt's office again, this time saying that the second Mrs. Cobbett has disappeared too. Matt does the wise thing - he tells Luz to stay away from Cobbett's place and mind his own business AND he decides to ride out to Jim's place and see exactly what is going on. When he gets there he finds a distraught and somewhat traumatized Cobbett with quite a tale to tell. What is that tale? Is it even true? Watch and find out.
This episode deals in a very 50s sanitized TV kind of way with rape, how women often feel it is a fate worse than death, how men often feel responsible for the outcome of their marriages and the protection of their wives regardless of circumstances, and how Matt has to make a decision on Cobbett's character with absolutely nothing to go on but his own past observations and the reputation of the man's character. Definitely worth your time.