
CHAPTER I. - HE ATTENDS A PICNIC.
CHAPTER II. - HE MAKES AN EVENING CALL.
CHAPTER III. - GOES TO A TEA-PARTY.
CHAPTER IV. - HE DOES HIS DUTY AS A CITIZEN.
CHAPTER V. - HE COMMITS SUICIDE.
CHAPTER VI. - HE IS DOOMED FOR WORSE ACCIDENTS.
CHAPTER VII. - I MAKE A NARROW ESCAPE.
CHAPTER VIII. - HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.
CHAPTER IX. - MEETS A PAIR OF BLUE EYES.
CHAPTER X. - HE CATCHES A TROUT AND PRESENTS IT TO A LADY.
He introduces himself as the world’s most bashful man, a gentle soul whose shy nature turns everyday errands into a series of comic calamities. Now twenty‑six, unmarried, and stuck behind the counter of his father’s village store, he spends his days fielding endless requests from the local girls—each transaction ending in a blunder of change, misplaced merchandise, or mortifying misunderstanding. His self‑deprecating humor and earnest desire to avoid causing anyone trouble make his misadventures both endearing and hilariously relatable.
When a group of townsmen insists he escort Belle Marigold to a Saturday picnic, his anxiety spikes. The invitation forces him to confront the very social terrors he has long avoided, while the bustling village watches, half‑amused and half‑hopeful for a breakthrough. As the day approaches, he teeters between dread and the faint thrill of possibly stepping out of his self‑imposed shadows.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (231K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Mark C. Orton, Linda McKeown, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2007-03-06
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1831–1885
A prolific 19th-century American writer, she moved easily from sentimental fiction to sensation and mystery. She is now especially remembered for The Dead Letter (1866), a landmark early detective novel in the United States.
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