Mr. Incoul’s Misadventure

Edgar Saltus builds this early novel around Harmon Incoul, a rich, self-possessed widower who marries the young and spirited Maida Barhyte, a woman whose heart is already given elsewhere. What follows is a study in cold control and quiet cruelty, told in the polished, faintly cynical style that made Saltus a fixture of fashionable New York. Behind the drawing-room manners lie jealousy, deception, and a husband who lets nothing show while he waits. First published in 1887, it was Saltus’s debut in fiction and set the mood for the pessimistic society novels that followed. Readers drawn to Gilded Age drama with a bitter edge will find it sharp company. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available to download.