The Uneasy Chair

The arrangement seems to be working out until Mr Wickett decides to play matchmaker with Miss Pickles' prissy niece Alexandrina, and his nephew, Darlington, an officer in the cavalry

Through a gross misinterpretation, Miss Pickles believes she, not Alexandrina, is the object of Mr. Wickett's, not Darlington's, affection. Miss Pickles is convinced Mr. Wickett will soon ask for her hand in marriage

When he denies, she decides to take her boarder to a court of law for breach of promise. Mr. Wickett loses the trial. Or does he win? He doesn't wish to pay Miss Pickles her settlement and instead he opts to marry the lonely woman

Through the musings, regrets, anecdotes, and comedic bickerings between their forced duet it seems as though just maybe they were meant to be together after all

"Mr. Smith provides scintillating imitations of period circum- locutions and Wildean epigrams" - NY Times

"In the Uneasy Chair Evan Smith has created a bewitching littlecomedy of Victorian manners Smith manages to convert a ridiculous situation into pure comedy made entrancing by its unerringly satirical command of the pompous lifestyle of middle-class Victorians" - NY Post