The Man on the Box

A lively comic-romance set in Washington society follows Lieutenant Robert Warburton and the interlinked Warburton and Annesley households as romantic hopes, family tensions, and social pretensions collide. A whimsical scheme that places an unconventional figure atop a box sets off a cascade of farcical incidents — arrests, mistaken identities, hired attendants, runaway scenes, and theatrical episodes — which reveal character, prompt reconciliations, and reshape engagements. The tale blends satire of manners with slapstick adventure, resolving its entanglements in restored relationships and renewed courtships.