The Romance of a Busy Broker (Henry)
Short summary
New York, early 20th century. Harvey Maxwell, a busy broker, arrived at his office with his stenographer Miss Leslie, who had worked for him for a year.
Miss Leslie looked particularly radiant that morning, lingering in the outer office instead of going straight to her desk.
Maxwell had told his clerk Pitcher to hire a new stenographer but forgot. When a candidate arrived, he dismissed her, insisting Miss Leslie was perfect. The day became exceptionally hectic with trading. During a lull, lilac perfume reminded Maxwell of Miss Leslie. He rushed to her desk and proposed, saying he loved her but hadn't had time to court her properly. Miss Leslie was shocked, then tearful, then embraced him. She gently reminded him:
Don't you remember, Harvey? We were married last evening at 8 o'clock in the Little Church Around the Corner.
His work had driven everything from his mind.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Morning arrival and forgotten arrangements
Harvey Maxwell arrived at his brokerage office at half past nine in the morning, accompanied by his young stenographer. His confidential clerk, Pitcher, observed this unusual arrangement with mild surprise, as Maxwell typically arrived alone.
The stenographer, Miss Leslie, appeared unusually radiant that morning. She wore her customary grey dress and black turban hat adorned with a gold-green macaw wing, but something was different about her demeanor.
She was beautiful in a way that was decidedly unstenographic...Her dress was grey and plain, but it fitted her figure with fidelity and discretion.
Instead of going directly to her desk, Miss Leslie lingered in the outer office, moving close enough to Maxwell's desk to make her presence known. When Maxwell asked if she needed anything, she simply smiled and moved away. She then inquired with Pitcher about whether Maxwell had mentioned hiring another stenographer. Pitcher confirmed that Maxwell had indeed requested a replacement the previous day and had contacted the agency to send candidates that morning.
The frenzy of business overwhelming everything else
As the business day intensified, Maxwell transformed completely. The ticker began reeling out tape, the telephone buzzed incessantly, and men crowded around his desk calling out orders. Messenger boys rushed in and out with telegrams, and the office clerks moved frantically like sailors in a storm.
The machine sitting at that desk was no longer a man; it was a busy New York broker, moved by buzzing wheels and uncoiling springs.
Maxwell worked with the trained agility of a performer, jumping from ticker to telephone, from desk to door. The financial world consumed him entirely, with stocks being pounded on the exchange floor and his customers' investments at risk.
Stocks and bonds, loans and mortgages, margins and securities--here was a world of finance, and there was no room in it for the human world or the world of nature.
In the midst of this chaos, a woman from the stenographer's agency arrived seeking the advertised position. She was elaborately dressed with golden hair, velvet hat with ostrich tips, and a string of large beads ending in a silver heart.
When Pitcher announced her arrival, Maxwell reacted with confusion and irritation. He insisted he had never given instructions to hire anyone, declaring that Miss Leslie had given perfect satisfaction during her year of employment and that her position was secure. He angrily dismissed the applicant and ordered Pitcher to cancel the agency request. Pitcher privately remarked that his employer seemed increasingly absent-minded.
The hurried proposal and surprising revelation
As the lunch hour approached, there came a brief lull in the market frenzy. Maxwell stood disheveled at his desk, fountain pen behind his ear, when a delicate scent of lilac drifted through the open window.
And through the window came a wandering...odour of lilac that fixed the broker for a moment immovable. For this odour belonged to Miss Leslie; it was her own.
The familiar fragrance brought Miss Leslie vividly to mind, causing the world of finance to shrink to insignificance. Suddenly decisive, Maxwell declared he would act immediately and rushed into the inner office where Miss Leslie worked. He charged toward her desk, still clutching papers and telegrams, and made an abrupt proposal. He explained that he had only a moment to spare but wanted to ask her to marry him, admitting he hadn't had time for conventional courtship but truly loved her.
Miss Leslie appeared stunned by his words, rising to her feet with round eyes full of amazement. When Maxwell pressed for an answer, explaining his love and the urgency due to business demands, she initially seemed overcome. Tears flowed from her eyes, but then she smiled and tenderly placed her arm around his neck. Her response revealed the story's surprising twist: she gently reminded him that his intense focus on business had driven everything else from his mind, including the fact that they had been married the previous evening at eight o'clock in the Little Church Around the Corner.