The Noose Matrimonial by Edgar Saltus

Name: The Noose Matrimonial
Author: Edgar Saltus

Marie Mermex is preparing to marry Paul Usher when her father, newly arrived from San Francisco, repeatedly tries to speak with her and then with the groom. At the wedding gathering, attended by relatives, the Enevers, and the writer Alphabet Jones, Marie’s beauty, self-possession, and unconventional manner contrast with Mrs. Usher’s distrust of her son’s bride, whom Paul has known for less than eight weeks. During the ceremony Mr. Mermex attempts to object, but fails to stop the marriage. Immediately afterward he draws Usher aside. Marie expects to leave with her husband for a tropical honeymoon, but Usher returns abruptly to announce that they are not going anywhere, then leaves again. Shocked, Marie drops her bouillon; the assembled guests speculate, while Mrs. Usher and reporters seek the cause of the disturbance. Mr. Mermex explains privately to Jones that Marie had previously gone to Sioux Falls for a divorce. On the train to the wedding, he encountered her former husband, who claimed that he had never been served, that the divorce was invalid, and that he intended to challenge it. Mermex told Usher at once, believing that Usher feared legal damages if Marie’s first husband pursued him. Marie dismisses her father’s interference and retires to change her soup-stained dress. Jones ironically comments on divorce and the marriage bond. Usher soon returns after investigating the matter and announces that Marie’s divorce is secure beyond challenge. Though they have missed their ship, he and Marie decide to leave at once by train for their honeymoon. Mr. Mermex blesses them, while Jones calls marriage a noose in which woman proposes and man accepts.

By Edgar Saltus · First published 1900 · Genre: Satire, Comedy/Farce, Romance · 3,894 words

First lines

"Mr. Jones, mem, is downstairs, and your aunt and your father. Your father, mem, he has been here three times."

It was Harriet, Marie's maid, talking vainly through the door.

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The Noose Matrimonial is listed on Textopian as a short story by Edgar Saltus, dated 1900 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Edgar Saltus
Date: 1900 CE
Language: English
Genres: Satire, Comedy/Farce, Romance, Literary Fiction, Social Drama
Length: 3,894 words
Structure: 1 section, 123 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Genres

Satire — The work mockingly critiques upper-class society, marriage conventions, and social pretense through ironic characterizations, particularly of Mrs. Usher and Mrs. Enever, culminating in the title's reference to matrimony as a 'noose.'
Comedy/Farce — The plot features absurd situations—a groom fleeing immediately after his wedding, confused revelations about an invalid divorce, and rapid-fire comedic dialogue punctuated by witty observations from Jones.
Romance — A wedding and honeymoon narrative forms the plot's structural core, with Marie and Paul ultimately united despite marital complications and reconciled before departure.
Literary Fiction — Saltus employs ornate, poetic prose with stylized sensory descriptions such as Marie depicted as 'a rose chimerically fair' with 'sultry' purple eyes and 'moist' scarlet mouth, demonstrating deliberate artistic sophistication.