Love Instigated: The Story of a Carved Ivory Umbrella Handle

In Short

Love Instigated is a playful, eccentric short story that blurs the line between a parlor-room anecdote and a mock-heroic meditation. It centers on the narrator’s sudden, irresistible compulsion to steal a common, gingham umbrella because its ivory handle—carved into the likeness of a beckoning woman—seems to exert a hypnotic power over him. By tracing the history of this object, the narrator unravels the tale of how a clumsy, accidental poke in the eye led to a marriage. It is a slight, stylized, and deeply atmospheric piece of nineteenth-century literary drollery.

The Story

The narrator is a guest at a friend’s mansion the night after Christmas, surrounded by an aesthetic, "voluptuous" environment of Turkish hangings, stained glass, and spirited conversation. His attention is repeatedly drawn to a carved ivory handle atop a cheap, tanned-gingham umbrella sitting in a china receptacle. The handle, shaped like an East-Indian woman’s head, appears to glare and beckon with a sinister, glassy eye. Driven by a strange, inexplicable impulse, the narrator—while intoxicated by his host’s "brain-maddening" hospitality—steals the umbrella as he leaves.

He retreats to his own "cell" within the cloistered, all-male quarters of the Pendennis Club. As he sits by the fire, the handle’s gaze holds him spellbound, eventually revealing its own history. The object was not a product of divine romance, but rather a catalyst for a very human collision. Years prior, a man described as a "dudish Roderick Dhu" was walking in the rain when a woman—a "Maiden Priestess"—accidentally struck him in the eye with the umbrella’s rib while maneuvering through a crowd.

This painful, chance interaction becomes the pivot point for their relationship. Instead of anger, the woman feels immediate commiseration for the injured man. She invites him to her "shrine" to have his wounds tended, and from there, the relationship blossoms with startling speed. The man becomes a devoted, almost desperate suitor, refusing to leave her side or look at other women. The woman, reflecting on the "cruel deed" she had inadvertently committed with the ivory-handled umbrella, decides to bestow the remainder of her youth and love upon him.

The narrator concludes that this is how love is instigated: not through grand design, but through "fortuitous chance" and the weight of social obligation. He reflects on the irony that he, a bachelor, is now in possession of the very object that brought this pair together. The story ends on a meta-fictional note, with the narrator imagining the ivory handle whispering to him, demanding to be returned to the home it helped create, lest he too find himself "instigated" into a life of unwanted domesticity. The narrative closes with a warning to the "sons of St. Pendennis" to be wary of the influence of such objects, lest the same fate befall them.

How It Unfolds

The aesthetic encounter The narrator finds himself transfixed by an ivory umbrella handle in a friend’s home after a Christmas dinner. He describes the object’s "sinister gleam" and its ability to act as a silent, mocking observer of the evening's conversation.

The impulsive theft Leaving the party, the narrator describes his own actions as "unconscious" and "unresisted." He spirits away the gingham umbrella, feeling pulled by the object's strange, alluring gaze into the cold night.

The revelation of the past Safe in his private quarters at the club, the narrator gazes into the fireplace and enters a trance. Under the influence of the ivory eyes, he begins to hear the history of how the umbrella once brought a man and woman together in the rain.

The anatomy of a courtship The narrative shifts to the past, explaining how a literal poke in the eye forced a connection between two strangers. The woman's guilt and pity, coupled with the man's desperate attachment, solidify into a permanent, mutual bond.

The final warning The narrator contemplates the nature of their love and the irony of his current possession. The handle seems to threaten him with a similar romantic fate, urging him to return it to the rightful owners.

The People

The narrator is a self-described "Son of St. Pendennis," a member of a bachelor’s club who prides himself on his detachment from the "Maiden Priestess of To-day." He is prone to flights of fancy, fueled by drink and the ornate atmosphere of his social circle. He is a man who fears—or perhaps secretly longs for—the disruption of his quiet, independent life.

The "Dudish Roderick Dhu" is the victim of the accident. He is portrayed as a man of excessive, perhaps even burdensome, passion. Once the umbrella incident links him to the woman, he sacrifices his independence and social ties to ensure she receives his full devotion.

The "Maiden Priestess" is a woman of pride and caution. Initially a figure of indifference, she is moved by a sense of responsibility for the physical harm she caused the man. Her decision to accept him is driven less by a sweeping, romantic passion and more by a calculated, sympathetic response to his "weeping wounds." Together, the couple represents the way mundane accidents can dictate the course of a lifetime.

In Its Own Voice

It was carved and carved again with Conventional Lines, which formed a Female Head of East-Indian Unexceptionableness.

The narrator describes the specific, unsettling detail of the umbrella handle that haunts his evening.

And Unconsciously, Unintentionally, and Unresistingly, I Took it from its Hand-Painted China Receptacle, and closing the Heavy doors of Rolled, Cathedral Plate Glass After me, I Unfurled its Sun-Tanned Gingham Folds to the aforementioned warring elements.

The narrator captures the dreamlike, almost somnambulistic state in which he commits his act of petty theft.

What It's Really About

The book explores the role of chance in human affairs, arguing that what we interpret as "love" is often the result of arbitrary, external forces. It questions the agency of the individual, suggesting that our most significant life choices—like marriage—are frequently instigated by accidents, social guilt, or the strange, totemic power of material objects. There is a secondary argument here about the nature of the "bookish" life; the narrator seems to be parodying the obsession with romantic tropes, suggesting that those who live too much in the world of stories (like his friend who tells ghost stories about daggers) are susceptible to projecting deep significance onto the most common, plebeian items.

Why Read It Today

Readers will enjoy this book if they have an affinity for late-nineteenth-century literary oddities. It is a work of high style, dense with ornate, descriptive prose and a satirical, self-aware tone that borders on the surreal. The experience of reading it is similar to viewing a cabinet of curiosities: it is cluttered, strange, and undeniably evocative.

However, contemporary readers should be prepared for the author’s idiosyncratic, highly stylized punctuation and the period-specific "dandy" persona. The text is thick with capitalizations and rhythmic, repetitive phrasing that demands a slow, attentive reading. It is not a plot-heavy novel, but rather a performative piece of writing that relishes its own absurdity. Those interested in the history of American short fiction will find it a fascinating, if brief, look at how the "aesthetic movement" influenced regional writers. It remains a memorable, lingering piece of prose because of its vivid, almost gothic, preoccupation with a mundane object. It leaves the reader with a lingering sense of mystery about the items in their own hallways—and whether, given the right chance encounter, those items might begin to exert a will of their own.