Glimpsing the Moon by Christopher Ward
Nick Lansing, an impoverished encyclopedia writer who dines out on rich friends, and Susy Branch, an equally poor young woman skilled at living on others' generosity, marry at the Fulmers' cottage in New Hampshire after Susy proposes the arrangement outright: they will live for a year entirely on wedding checks and borrowed houses, servants and cigars, with a tacit understanding that an easy divorce will follow once the year ends and either might make a better match. Their honeymoon takes them to Como at Streffy's villa, where they live amid his gardenias and cigars under the moon that opens Susy's attempted prose piece with Nick mocking her word choices. Leaving for Vanderlyn's palazzo in Venice, Nick nearly causes delay fussing over whether Streffy's cigars were bought or given, a nicety of their scrounging code. At the palazzo a letter from Ellie Vanderlyn asks Susy to post letters to Nelson Vanderlyn and to look after "the child," which Susy at first calls infamous but, charmed by the luxury of her surroundings, ends up doing anyway. Charlie Strefford, heir presumptive to the Earldom of Altringham, visits and jokes about Nick's philosophic romance and about marrying Susy himself should the current Earl and his son die. Ellie returns briefly before leaving again for St. Moritz, thanking Nick and Susy and giving each a jewel, Susy's gift the costlier. Nick resents that Susy was valued above him for the same service, calls it humiliating to his position as head of the family, and storms off to find a tramp, eventually failing but instead finding the Hickses' yacht, the Ibis, anchored in the harbor. He recalls his earlier time freeloading on Papa and Mamma Hicks, their secretaries, doctor, companion Eldorada Tooker, and their daughter Coral, an heiress he half considers marrying for her family's wealth against Susy's dwindling pearl necklace. A newspaper notice reports the Earl of Altringham and his son drowned in a yachting accident, clearing Strefford's path to the title. Coral notes Nick's wife has stopped writing him and offers him a position as her secretary; he declines that role but offers instead to become her husband, and the Ibis sails off with him aboard. Nick wires Susy resigning his position as her husband and recommending Strefford as his successor. Susy wires Strefford congratulations on his new rank and the news that Nick has quit her; Strefford summons her to the fountain at Versailles and proposes, noting his improved prospects as Earl. A newspaper item announces the divorce of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Lansing. The group later gathers for tea on the terrace of the Castle: Strefford now Earl of Altringham with Susy as his Countess, and Nick now married to Coral Hicks, all the party good-humored together. Susy describes to Nick a fictional alternate version of their story that has circulated, in which she refuses Strefford, takes work minding the five Fulmer children, Nick similarly refuses Coral, the two reunite without any divorce, and they begin a frugal second honeymoon with the Fulmer children at Fontainebleau. Everyone laughs at the invented tale's unlikeliness, and Nick remarks that such unhappy, realistic endings are simply the fashionable mode of the day.
By Christopher Ward · Genre: Romantic Comedy, Satire, Comedy of Manners · 8 chapters · 2,708 words
First lines
"I opine," began Susy -- --
"You what? " interrupted Nick.
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Genres
- Romantic Comedy — The narrative centers on Nick and Susy's marriage of convenience that spirals into absurd romantic complications and misunderstandings, with witty banter and humorous resolutions driving the plot.
- Satire — The work satirizes the wealthy elite's superficiality, their reliance on borrowed goods and hospitality, and the transactional nature of marriage and relationships in high society.
- Comedy of Manners — The novel mocks the specific behaviors, pretensions, and social conventions of the 1920s upper class, from linguistic affectations to the elaborate systems of borrowing and networking.
- Romance — Despite the satirical tone, romantic tension and marital relationships form the core narrative, with multiple love interests and emotional stakes underlying the comedic situations.
Tags
marriage-of-convenience · temporary-marriage · divorce · satire · social-satire · romantic-comedy · ironic-romance · wit · Europe · Italy · Venice · Lake-Como
What this Textopian page supports
Glimpsing the Moon is listed on Textopian as a short story by Christopher Ward, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Christopher Ward
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Romantic Comedy, Satire, Comedy of Manners, Romance, Literary Fiction
- Length: 2,708 words
- Structure: 8 chapters, 77 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Glimpsing the Moon by Christopher Ward
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