A drawing room comedy about a man who's proposal is rejected minutes before he comes into a very large inheritance. This sets up a situation where the girl now feels she can't accept him, because she rejected him when he was poor, so he proposes to another girl. A series of mix-ups, misidentified philanthropists, gambling, and treachery, lead to the predictable conclusion. A formulaic play of the flaws of the aristocracy laid bare by a poor but honest secretary, with the aristocrats standing around with egg on their faces when it is all over. In the end, though, everyone comes out all right. Not a play of great genius, but an amusing if ordinary work. ( )

One of those stories where no-one is a good person, the protagonists are tiresome, the antagonists are entertaining, and the supporting characters are unintentionally sympathetic. Sort of the male-protagonist equivalent of The Inheritance. The poor relation inherits a great fortune, spites his true love, plays a despicable trick on everyone, and lives happily ever after. Satirical, amusing, and oddly soulless. ( )