# Mr. Incoul explained — Mr. Incoul’s Misadventure

> Chapter companion for Mr. Incoul’s Misadventure by Edgar Saltus.

## What happens

The chapter introduces Harmon Incoul, a wealthy widower whose wife died of pneumonia after fifteen years of marriage. Initially expected never to remarry, he spends two years in solitude before gradually re-entering society. At a reception, he meets the young Maida Barhyte and, after a brief conversation, asks her a startling question, indicating his intention to call on her.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wealth and Power

Mr. Incoul's proverbial wealth, inherited real estate, and ability to rebuild a mansion on Madison Avenue underscore the theme of wealth as a defining social force.

### Marriage as Transaction

The chapter sets up Mr. Incoul's potential remarriage as a social and personal transaction, following the death of his first wife.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Incoul

Protagonist; wealthy widower, nearly forty, with a vindictive past but a model married life; begins to re-engage with society and takes an interest in Maida Barhyte.

### Miss Maida Barhyte

A delicious young girl whom Mr. Incoul meets at a reception; he is drawn to her and asks her a question that startles her.

### Mr. Blydenburg

A florid, talkative widower and friend of Mr. Incoul; visits for chess and is present at the reception.

### Mrs. Incoul

Deceased wife of Mr. Incoul; died of pneumonia after fifteen years of marriage; described as sweet and benevolent.

### Mr. Wainwaring

An acquaintance of Mr. Incoul, present at the reception.

## Key lines

> When Harmon Incoul’s wife died, the world in which he lived said that he would not marry again.

After his wife's death, society assumed Mr. Incoul would remain a widower.

_Establishes the social expectation and sets up the narrative of his potential remarriage._

> He was too energetic to be a dilettante, he had no taste for horseflesh, the game of speculation did not interest him, and his artistic tendencies were few.

Mr. Incoul was not a dabbler; he lacked interest in horses, gambling, and the arts.

_Highlights his limited personal interests and his energetic, focused nature._

> At some entertainment he met a delicious young girl, Miss Maida Barhyte by name, whom for the moment he admired impersonally, as he might have admired a flower, and until he saw her again, forgot her very existence.

He first met Maida Barhyte at a party, admiring her briefly like a flower, then forgot her until they met again.

_Introduces Maida and Mr. Incoul's initial detached admiration._

## Links

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