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Summary of O.Henry's "The Romance of a Busy Broker"

 

             O. Henry’s “The Romance of a Busy Broker” is about how a man involves himself in his business and forgets about his personal life. Harvey Maxwell is a broker in the New York Stock Exchange. He has a young beautiful secretary, Miss Leslie since last year. Mr. Pitcher is his personal clerk. Every day, Maxwell dashes to his desk and plunges into the letters and telegrams waiting for him.

One fine morning Miss Leslie enters the office with Harvey Maxwell, blushing and looking happy.  Unlike her usual routine, she hovers around Maxwell’s desk, trying to get his attention. But Maxwell, bombarded by phone calls, is so busy like a machine. Harvey Maxwell like sailors during a storm has passed a really busy day with telephone calls and people. It is like a hurricane, a landslide, and volcanoes.

The previous day, he asked Pitcher to hire another secretary. But when the candidate arrives, Maxwell dismisses her. He says that he did not have any intention of hiring a new secretary, as he was perfectly satisfied with the services of Ms. Leslie. The clerk declares that Maxwell was getting more and more absent-minded and forgetful as days passed.

As the day progresses, Maxwell has lost himself in the world of finance – stocks, bonds, loans, shares and securities. Suddenly he smells a sweet odour of lilac. He recognizes that it belongs to Ms. Leslie, and then he forgets his work. He could only think about her.  In the spur of the moment, he proposes marriage to her. Surprisingly, Miss Leslie acts strangely. Tears flow from her eyes and she smiles at him. She tells him that they had married the previous evening at eight o'clock at the little church around the corner.

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