The Model Millionaire

Detailed Chapter Summary

• 1. The Charming but Unsuccessful Hero: Hughie Erskine is a wonderfully handsome and popular young man, but he has one major flaw—he cannot make money. He has tried various jobs, from the Stock Exchange to selling tea and sherry, but failed at all of them. He survives on a meager allowance of two hundred pounds a year given by an old aunt.
• 2. The Marriage Condition: Hughie is deeply in love with a girl named Laura Merton, and she adores him back. However, Laura's father, a strict retired Colonel, refuses to let them get married. He tells Hughie that he will only agree to the engagement when Hughie has ten thousand pounds of his own.
• 3. The Artist and the Beggar: One morning, Hughie visits his friend Alan Trevor, a talented but rugged artist. In the studio, Alan is painting a life-size portrait of a very miserable, wrinkled old beggar man dressed in tattered rags and patched boots.
• 4. An Act of Pure Generosity: When Alan briefly leaves the room to speak to a frame-maker, Hughie feels immense pity for the poor old man's wretched appearance. Looking into his pockets, Hughie finds his only sovereign (a valuable gold coin) and slips it into the beggar's hand. The old man smiles and thanks him.
• 5. The Shocking Revelation: Later that night at a club, Hughie meets Alan again and learns a shocking truth. The "beggar" model was not poor at all; he was Baron Hausberg, one of the wealthiest millionaires in Europe, who simply wanted a painting of himself dressed in rags.
• 6. Hughie's Embarrassment: Alan also reveals that the Baron was highly curious about Hughie, so Alan told him everything—including Hughie's lack of money, his romance with Laura, and the Colonel's ten-thousand-pound condition. Hughie feels incredibly embarrassed and foolish for giving a coin to a millionaire.
• 7. An Unexpected Visitor: The next morning, an old gentleman representing Baron Hausberg arrives at Hughie's house. Hughie assumes the man has come to demand an apology for the "insult" of offering a millionaire spare change.
• 8. The Grand Reward: Instead of demanding an apology, the visitor hands Hughie a sealed envelope. On the outside, it reads: "A wedding present to Hugh Erskine and Laura Merton, from an old beggar." Inside the envelope is a cheque for exactly ten thousand pounds.
• 9. The Happy Conclusion: Because Hughie can now fulfill the Colonel's condition, he and Laura happily get married. Alan Trevor serves as the best man, and the Baron even makes a speech at the wedding breakfast. Alan remarks on the story's moral: while millionaire models are rare, model millionaires (millionaires who act as perfect examples of generosity) are even rarer.