De gestreepte Domino

Summary

Mr Colderwhip, a young widower, is behaving so strangely of late that his butler and housekeeper wonder what is the matter with him. His trouble is that he is in love with Priscilla, the daughter of a rich friend. He visits Priscilla daily but makes her jealous by flirting with her friends and disappoints her by never mentioning marriage. She decides to create a situation that will force him to propose. A fancy-dress party gives her the opportunity to carry out her plan. After an evening of champagne, music and dancing, Colderwhip takes her home with him.

The following morning, when he wakes up next to the piano and sees his breakfast waiting for him, he remembers nothing about inadvertently having locked Priscilla in a room. He realizes, though, when he hears her knocking on the door and when friends arrive unexpectedly, that he is in a very embarrassing position. When he gets rid of the unwelcome guests he politely asks Priscilla to leave. She refuses to walk home in her party costume and demands that he bring her other clothes. Colderwhip manages to climb through her bedroom window unobserved and comes back with a box containing her street clothes. At that moment his friends come to visit him again and then Colderwhip is so embarrassed that he can do nothing else but introduce Priscilla to the guests as his future bride. Priscilla has won.