No. 13 Washington Square

In Short

This 1914 comedy of manners revolves around the icy, aristocratic Mrs. De Peyster, who attempts to escape the stifling demands of high society by faking a voyage to Europe, all while secretly hiding in her own attic. Her meticulously planned solitude is shattered when a charming, quick-witted scoundrel named Mr. Pyecroft infiltrates the house, believing her to be a fellow thief on the run. The resulting collision of social pretension and criminal audacity creates a lighthearted, witty farce that explores the absurdity of rigid social hierarchies.

The Story

Mrs. De Peyster, a dowager of immense dignity and limited patience, determines to evade the suffocating social obligations of the New York season. She orchestrates a ruse: her relative, Olivetta, will travel to Europe posing as Mrs. De Peyster, while the true mistress of the house sneaks back into her own residence to live hidden in the attic. She enlists her loyal, fluttery maid, Matilda, as her only co-conspirator. However, the plan immediately founders when Jack, Mrs. De Peyster’s son, returns home secretly to live with his new wife, Mary.

Chaos erupts when a third party, a clever and mischievous man known as Mr. Pyecroft, breaks into the house. Having deduced that the inhabitants are hiding from the law, he assumes the two women are fellow fugitives. Rather than exposing them, he decides to "protect" his new peers, eventually taking over the household and orchestrating a scheme to defraud the public using Mrs. De Peyster’s own name. Forced to play the role of a desperate accomplice to avoid exposure, the proud widow finds herself trapped in her own home, eavesdropping on her son’s life and enduring the daily humiliations of being mistaken for a common domestic.

As the summer progresses, the household becomes a powder keg of mistaken identities. Judge Harvey, a man whose reputation was shattered by a forgery scandal involving Thomas Jefferson letters, stalks the periphery, desperate to catch the culprit—who is, unbeknownst to him, the very man currently living in the attic. The tension peaks when a persistent reporter threatens to expose Jack’s secret marriage. In a twist of dark irony, Pyecroft manages to craft a brilliant, convincing forgery that redirects the reporter’s suspicion and protects the family’s honor, albeit through a dishonest path.

The charade finally collapses when the real Olivetta returns, and the group finds itself cornered. The masquerade is stripped away, and the occupants of No. 13 Washington Square are forced into an awkward, inevitable confrontation. Yet, the ending is surprisingly harmonious. Having been humbled by her experiences, Mrs. De Peyster discovers a new capacity for warmth and vulnerability. The Judge, undeterred by the chaos, renews his suit for her hand. Even the rogue Pyecroft, revealed as the respectable Eliot Endicott Bradford, is offered a position in the Judge’s office, signaling a resolution where the rigidity of the old order is replaced by a more forgiving and unconventional reality.

How It Unfolds

The grand retreat begins Mrs. De Peyster meticulously prepares her departure, arranging for Olivetta to take her place in the public eye while she retreats to the attic. She believes she has engineered a flawless, solitary summer free from the "deadly proper" life of Washington Square.

The uninvited guest arrives The plan is derailed when the roguish Pyecroft infiltrates the house, convinced he has found a safe haven for himself and his fellow "crooks." He assumes the role of the house’s master, forcing the terrified women to play along to avoid being reported to the police.

The house fills with secrets Mrs. De Peyster, trapped in her own attic, is forced to watch her son Jack and his wife Mary live in the rooms below. She endures the presence of the man she considers a criminal, all while trying to maintain her cover and avoid being discovered by the inquisitive Judge Harvey.

The forgery scheme When the family’s reputation is threatened by a prying journalist, Pyecroft saves the day by creating a masterful, malicious forgery. This act forces the dowager to confront the irony of her situation: she is being protected by the very man she despises.

The walls come down The return of Olivetta forces a final, clumsy convergence of all parties. The masks are discarded, and the truth of the hidden widow and the undercover rogue is finally laid bare.

A new understanding The story concludes with a surprise reconciliation. The once-stiff Mrs. De Peyster accepts the Judge’s proposal, and the reformed Pyecroft finds a place in the society he spent the summer mocking.

The People

Mrs. De Peyster is the central figure, a woman defined by her "icebergy pride" and rigid adherence to tradition. Her journey is one of deconstruction; she begins as a woman who treats her own home like a fortress and ends as a person capable of smiling at the absurdities of life.

Mr. Pyecroft (later revealed as Eliot Endicott Bradford) is the catalyst for change. He is a man of "ironic talk" and "pagan, delighted" glee, who views life as a series of larks. His lack of respect for the law and his penchant for forgeries expose the hollowness of the social elite he infiltrates.

Matilda serves as the bridge between worlds. As a maid, she is accustomed to being invisible, yet she becomes the essential anchor for both her mistress and the rogue Pyecroft. Her anxiety provides the book's comedic engine, though her loyalty remains the constant that keeps the household from total collapse.

Judge Harvey represents the wounded dignity of the establishment. Having been humiliated by a forgery hoax, he is initially an antagonist, yet he proves to be a man of genuine depth who values the woman behind the "De Peyster" mask more than the social status she represents.

In Its Own Voice

Mrs. De Peyster’s initial detachment from the world is perfectly captured in the author’s description of her demeanor:

She looked quite as Mrs. De Peyster should have looked: with an aura of high dignity that a sixty-year-old dowager of the first water could not surpass, yet with a freshness of person that might have made her early forties seem a blossomy thirty-five.

The irony of her situation—that she is a guest in her own home—is highlighted by the rogue Pyecroft’s bemused observation:

We'll make ourselves at home--hang out together for the summer in Mrs. De Peyster's own house,--her own house,--and when we hear she's coming back we vacate.

Finally, the shift in Mrs. De Peyster’s character is signaled in the final scene, as she abandons her cold exterior:

But before he could turn to go, Mrs. De Peyster, from over the shoulder against which she leaned--Mrs. De Peyster, she couldn't help it ... smiled at him.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book is an examination of the performance of social identity. Mrs. De Peyster’s life is shown to be a series of elaborate, empty rituals that she herself finds suffocating. By forcing her to shed her status and live as an imposter, the author strips away the "petrified" family tree to see what lies beneath. The book questions whether social order is maintained by merit or merely by the conviction of those who uphold it. Through the character of the forger, it suggests that the line between a "gentleman" and a "criminal" is often thinner than society wishes to admit, defined more by the clothes one wears than by the honesty of one’s intentions.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the sharp, witty farces of the early twentieth century—those that delight in the collapse of Victorian-era stuffiness—will find this book highly entertaining. The prose is elegant and precise, capturing the frantic energy of a house full of people who are not who they claim to be. It is a warm, lighthearted read, though modern readers should be prepared for the period-specific attitudes regarding social class and the occasional use of now-dated, clichéd depictions of servants. The dialect used for some characters can be challenging and occasionally jarring to a contemporary ear. However, the book’s central appeal remains its buoyant, mischievous spirit. It is a study of how people can get trapped in the roles they create for themselves, and how sometimes it takes an outsider—and a bit of chaos—to help them see the humor in their own lives. If you appreciate a story where the high-and-mighty are brought down to earth through a series of absurd, high-stakes misunderstandings, the journey through the attic of No. 13 Washington Square is a rewarding, charming experience that leaves the reader with a sense of genuine, human transformation.