Laura Brayton

This issue of Street & Smith's The Select Series (No. 65, October 29, 1890) contains "Laura Brayton; or, A Struggle to Rise" by Julia Edwards, an author also known for "Beautiful But Poor" and "The Little Widow." The melodramatic narrative opens in the law office of Enoch Sharp, a ruthless and misshapen attorney who coerces his lame henchman Jake Bartram into marriage with Laura Brayton, a pale, beautiful orphan living as a servant in Sharp's household. The girl is innocent and distrustful of Bartram. Sharp cryptically hints that her marital status will determine her financial prospects—she might inherit substantial wealth or remain poor. Sharp also receives a client, the elderly Mr. Withers, who wishes to draft a will, revealing Sharp's past romantic rejection by Withers's brother and a woman named Anna Lonsdale. The narrative establishes a complex scheme of manipulation and concealed identities central to the plot.