The main character, Jane, is a servant. She has been engaged to a young man, William, for three years. She considers his behaviour, his prospects and his family background, and she believes he is a very good match for her. William is second porter in a draper’s. However, when he is promoted to head porter, he finds a new girlfriend, a milliner. Jane follows the new lovers a number of times and tells the milliner that she is William’s fiancée. But in the end, William marries the milliner and when they come out of church, Jane throws a boot at the bride, but it hits William’s eye instead.
The author, HG Wells, uses the story to criticise class divisions. The narrator, the master of the house, keeps his distance from his servants, and he probably does not talk to them. Jane is a servant and an orphan, so she needs to find a man who has prospects. She has social ambitions and she is a snob. Since Jane believes William is a respectable man, and his relatives are not labourers, if she married William, it will give her a little bit of security and improve her social status. But, she does not see William as a social climber; he keeps up his good work, reads a self-help book to improve himself, and dresses up to improve his appearance. He also joins a religious group which his employer also belongs to. Eventually, he probably thinks a milliner is better than a servant; the milliner might make hats for him or he may be able to set up a business selling hats, whereas Jane buys him a tie so far.
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