# Miss Barhyte Agrees to Change Her Name explained — Mr. Incoul’s Misadventure

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

## What happens

Mr. Incoul visits Miss Barhyte at her boardinghouse to receive her answer to his marriage proposal. She reveals her family's financial distress and her plan to work as a governess in San Francisco, but after a tense negotiation, she agrees to marry him on the condition that the marriage will be in name only until she chooses to give him her heart. After he leaves, she sends a note to Lenox Leigh, arranging a meeting that evening.

## Themes in this chapter

### Marriage as Transaction

Maida agrees to marry Mr. Incoul as a financial necessity, stipulating a marriage in name only.

### Love and Illusion

Maida's secret note to Lenox Leigh reveals a romantic attachment that contradicts her engagement to Mr. Incoul.

### Gender Roles and Agency

Maida negotiates the terms of her marriage, asserting control over her emotional and physical availability.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Incoul

Visits Miss Barhyte to press his suit; agrees to her terms for a marriage of convenience.

### Miss Maida Barhyte

Accepts Mr. Incoul's proposal under strict conditions; secretly arranges to meet Lenox Leigh that evening.

### Lenox Leigh

Receives a note from Maida and responds with a promise to visit at nine.

### Archibald

The servant who admits Mr. Incoul and later delivers Maida's note to Lenox Leigh.

### Mrs. Barhyte

Mentioned as urging Maida to accept Mr. Incoul's proposal due to their financial troubles.

## Key lines

> I will be your wife? As Balzac's heroine was to her husband? You have said it.

Maida agrees to marry Mr. Incoul but only in a platonic arrangement, referencing a Balzac character who maintained a similar distance from her spouse.

_Maida explicitly sets the terms of a marriage without intimacy._

> Viens ce soir

Maida writes a note in French asking Lenox Leigh to come to her that evening.

_This secret summons reveals her ongoing romantic involvement with Lenox._

## Links

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