The Other Two

by Edith Wharton

The Other Two is a short story written by Edith Wharton, first published in 1904. The story revolves around a man named Waythorn, who has been married twice before and is now married to his third wife, Alice. Waythorn is a successful businessman who is determined to make his marriage to Alice work, despite feeling insecure about her past relationships. The story follows Waythorn's attempts to come to terms with the fact that Alice's ex-husbands, Haskett and Varick, are still a part of her life. He is uncomfortable with their presence, but Alice seems to be completely oblivious to his discomfort. Waythorn's attempts to assert his dominance and establish himself as the head of the household are constantly undermined by Alice's interactions with her ex-husbands. As the story progresses, Waythorn begins to realize that Alice's past relationships are not as innocent as he initially believed. He discovers that Alice had an affair with Varick while she was still married to Haskett, and that Haskett is still in love with her. Waythorn's jealousy and insecurity reach a boiling point, and he confronts Alice about her past. The Other Two is a poignant exploration of jealousy, insecurity, and the complexities of human relationships. Wharton's masterful storytelling and vivid characterizations make this short story a timeless classic that continues to resonate with readers today.The scene left Waythorn deeply shaken. Shamefacedly, in indirect ways, he had been finding out about Haskett; and all that he had learned was favorable. The little man, in order to be near his daughter, had sold out his share in a profitable business in Utica, and accepted a modest clerkship in a New York manufacturing house. He boarded in a shabby street and had few acquaintances. His passion for Lily filled his life. Waythorn felt that this exploration of Haskett was like groping about with a dark-lantern in his wife's past.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, School, Historical Fiction, American, Read For School

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Edith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.

Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.

Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.

Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.

Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.

Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.

Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.

In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.

Reviews

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The social and personal problems of a partner's multiple exes: the effect they had in the past, and the ongoing effect on your life together. It’s very civilised, but turns almost to farce.

The wife admits to being 35. (“Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years” Lady Bracknell in Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest (my review here). She has two previous husbands, both living, one of whom is the father of her daughter. The story juggles feminist and traditional themes, reflecting the social changes of the time (1904).

The story arc is like a humorous interpretation of the 1969 Kübler-Ross model of the five stages of grief:


* “New York divorce is in itself a diploma of virtue.” Like one of Wilde’s contrary quips.
* “She was ‘as easy as an old shoe’ - a shoe that too many feet had worn.”
* “She reminded him of a juggler tossing knives; but the knives were blunt.”
* “Occupying a chair in his usual provisional way.”


More Wharton Stories

I read this as one of twenty stories in The New York Stories of Edith Wharton , which I reviewed here.

Reading them one after the other made me notice her favoured ingredients, from which she selected a unique combination for each story, and which led me to concoct a recipe for Write Your Own Wharton Short Story, which I posted here.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a world where divorce is so commonplace, it is interesting to read this tale of the third husband in a world where divorce is the exception rather than the rule.

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading this short story, I was reminded of one of Wharton's ghost stories that I'd recently read: Pomegranate Seed.

In both of these stories, a newly-wed couple must navigate the lingering influence of a prior spouse.

In "The Other Two," told from the perspective of the husband, he is forced to confront the ramifications of his wife being twice divorced. It is not a ghost story, but the husband is "haunted" by his thoughts and feelings about his wife and the influence of her two prior husbands.

Generally speaking, one can never read too much Edith Wharton.

[Дмитрий · Rating 2 out of 5]

Очень красивый рассказ, в котором ничего не происходит.
Всё начиналось на 5 баллов: женщина выходит замуж в третий раз, ее первый муж часто навещает свою дочь в ее новом доме, а ее current муж помогает ее второму мужу разобраться с инвестициями. Но всё свелось к чаепитию-à-quatre.

[Hila Karimov · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel shows an interesting role reversal (for the late 19th century) between a husband and wife. She is a divorcee of 2 marriages (pretty incredible for a woman of the time), while for her husband theirs is his first marriage. The novel follows the husband's slow-boil freakout as he realizes that his wife is (gasp!) a regular person, rather than an angel survivor of 2 brutal marriages. He is constantly thrown into the company of her two exes, and begins to understand that his wife divorced each not for reasons like brutality or flagrant unfaithfulness, but for simpler reasons - reasons that would explain why a man would divorce a woman, but that most women would learn to live with in their husband - uncouthness and unrefinement, misuse of money. Moreover, his wife seems extremely comfortable with the situtation. There are no "scenes", she doesn't bat an eye to meet one, or even both, of her exes, but is unfailingly polite to both while the husband is distraught, describing himself as hating his own "womanly disposition" that causes him distress. He thinks his wife is as comfortable as "an old shoe" and resents her for seeming to have no personality at all. Throughout the story, the husband waits for his wife in various situations, and there is not one instance of her waiting or looking for him.
The husband eventually comes to accept his wife's personality and past, and the presence of her exes in their lives, even becoming thankful for his wife's serene demeanor.

[Desirae · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for Wharton's ability to create characters and situations that just draw you in. And her writing, just marvellous. The only fault is that I almost think it's too short and would have liked to spend more time with these characters.

[Kathryn Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this short story for English and was a bit meh really. Nothing rly happened and it ended really abruptly.

[Sarah]

read for school so i’m counting it

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

girlbossed it fr those simps down bad

[Trauermaerchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice little read. I enjoyed the writing style and story structure.

The main dude however was fucking insufferable which got pretty annoying. I just really wished he would shut up and that we had gotten the wife's perspective.

Overall decent enough and I'd be curious about Wharton's other works but this one is probably better suited for a different type of reader than I am.

[Alyssa Masiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this short story for my English class and it was kinda boring. But, I think the themes Wharton chose to display were interesting and the one part that was really interesting was when all three men were in the same room as her lol.

[Naomi Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my women’s lit class- it was a semi interesting plot but not very intriguing and probably not something I would have read on my own accord

[Wende · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simp nation

[Maxine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this short story.

[Shelby Rolen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on marriage. How women have to use marriage as vehicle for daily life.

[Karen Kovacs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cheeky short story about a man who comes into contact with his wife’s two ex-husbands! My first Edith Wharton and her writing intrigued me enough that it may not be my last.

[Fefe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for American Lit

I had to read and write about this as we studied Psychological Realism this week. I wrote a lengthy paper about Waythorn's psych development throughout the story but for our purposes here I will just say that it took a very honest look at what goes on in our minds when we are going through a difficult and uncomfortable change. Maybe I am just neurotic but I related to so much of the self-consciousness and discomfort that Waythorn suffered, and then his ability to adapt. I have gone through things that I thought would consume my mind forever, only to find that at some point they had become like the crack in the windshield that I had looked through for so long that I no longer even noticed.

[Persy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He asked himself if it were not better to own a third of a wife who knew how to make a man happy than a whole one who had lacked opportunity to acquire the art. For it was an art, and made up, like all others, of concessions, eliminations, and embellishments; of lights judiciously thrown and shadows skillfully softened.”

I loved this sweet story. In life, we find ourselves thrust into a variety of awkward circumstances, but a bit of amicability and an open mind can do wonders for our ability to weather them.

All the characters were charming in their own way and imbued the story with a sense of hopefulness; maybe most of us have nothing but the best of intentions, though sometimes, perhaps, misguided.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading “The Other Two”, a short story by Edith Wharton. I read this book while listening to the audible version narrated by Flo Gibson. Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, including Theodore Roosevelt. Wharton was born to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander in New York City. She had two brothers, Frederic Rhinelander and Henry Edward. The saying "Keeping up with the Joneses" is said to refer to her father's family. She was also related to the Rensselaer family, the most prestigious of the old patroon families. She had a lifelong friendship with her Rhinelander niece, landscape architect Beatrix Farrand of Reef Point in Bar Harbor, Maine. In 1885, at 23, she married Edward (Teddy) Robbins Wharton, who was 12 years older. From a well-established Philadelphia family, he was a sportsman and gentleman of the same social class and shared her love of travel. From the late 1880s until 1902, he suffered acute depression, and the couple ceased their extensive travel. At that time his depression manifested as a more serious disorder, after which they lived almost exclusively at The Mount, their estate designed by Edith Wharton. In 1908 her husband's mental state was determined to be incurable. She divorced him in 1913. Around the same time, Edith was overcome with the harsh criticisms leveled by the naturalist writers. Later in 1908 she began an affair with Morton Fullerton, a journalist for The Times, in whom she found an intellectual partner. In addition to novels, Wharton wrote at least 85 short stories. She was also a garden designer, interior designer, and taste-maker of her time. She wrote several design books, including her first published work, The Decoration of Houses of 1897, co-authored by Ogden Codman. Another is the generously illustrated Italian Villas and Their Gardens of 1904. This was a fun read!

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always forget how much I like a good Edith Wharton short story until I read an Edith Wharton short story. Thankfully, my American Lit II class has kept me in a steady stream of Wharton. I do love The Age of Innocence, but there is something about her short fiction that feels fresher and blunter somehow. I can just imagine her pounding out these short stories between long, dramatic novels for fun. They just have that feeling to them.

The Other Two explores a topic only starting to emerge in Wharton's time: divorce. More specifically, she explores the social aftermath of divorce: what a blended family might look like, how a new husband would deal with an ex, and just what a woman having more than one husband means in the long run. I really feel that only Wharton, later a divorcee herself, could have written this story in 1904. It is clever and insightful in a way that still feels modern.

Choosing to frame the story in Waythorn's perspective instead of Alice's was a smart move. It makes everything less clear and leaves Waythorn to have to ask questions and come to conclusions about what he has thought about his new wife and what the truth about her is. However, if there is such a thing as Edith Wharton fan fiction, I'd like to see Alice's story in further detail. I also enjoyed how tense and awkward yet polite the interactions between Alice's ex husbands and Waythorn are.

Overall, The Other Two is sharp, modern, and everything any Edith Wharton short story should be. I would definitely recommend!

[Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story by Edith Wharton about a man named Waythorn and his new wife Alice. They have some difficulties because, through circumstance, her previous two husband's were still in the picture: one as a father to her daughter, and the other as a business partner of Waythorn.

This short story examines the difficulties Waythorn has accepting his Wife's past. He goes through jealousy, self doubt, suspicion, and more. Ultimately, he comes to terms with the situation in the end, and the change becomes normal to him.

I am glad that the story didn't end in him finding out that his wife was cheating. That was where I was expecting the story to go, and so it was a pleasant surprise to find out otherwise.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Waithorn was an idealist. He always refused to recognize unpleasant contingencies, until he found himself confronted with them. Then, he saw them followed by a special train of consequences."

"Her instincts were to avoid difficulties or to circumvent them. With sudden vividness, Waithorn saw how the instinct had developed. She was as easy as an old shoe -a shoe that too many feet had worn."

A brilliant short story of dawning revelation on a man that his wife's exes are not quite the brutes she described - and in this actualization, wondering where he and his desire for her now fit.

I'd forgotten how masterful Edith Wharton is with revealing psychological and relational nuances with the subtle interplay of characters.

[Reehan Miah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting element of the competently-written The Other Two is its handling of a then-taboo subject: divorce. Wharton subverts norms and casts a female as the double-divorcee, and then foregrounds the perspective of the third husband in the emotional jungle that follows. There's nothing particularly compelling about the story itself or how it unfolds, but it's a refreshingly modern treatment of the subject matter.

[Katarína Ristveyová · Rating 3 out of 5]

As mentioned in other reviews, this short story depicts the relationships a man has with the former husbands of his wife.. Not a great short story, but not bad at all.. The husband eventually sees the humour behind each visits and encounters he has with the exes of his wife.. However, I was still waiting for something to happen, some twist or at least some kind of action..although, the life is sometimes uneventful..

[Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another story for my English class, and I was not a fan of this one. It's interesting to see how divorce was treated back in these days with a modern perspective, but the story itself is quite uneventful. I didn't like how the main character talked about "ownership" of his wife, it seemed like he had good intentions, but the language left a bad taste in my mouth. I also didn't like the focus on high society.

[Annalee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read an Edith Wharton book. This short story of hers is my first. The way she describes the characters in the story is indicative of her being exposed to and familiar with high society. She has an eye for observing the manners of the have and have nots. I enjoyed her prolific storytelling, which is the impetus of my wanting to read her novels and ghost stories.

[Gracelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story from a male perspective. He has married a woman who has had two divorces (climbing the social scale), and in this time divorce was a newly accepted thing. The story documents interactions with her and her husband and her ex-husbands.

[Monzenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Assumed powerlessness. Such a short story but such a good way of presenting the situation as if it were "inevitable." For the current beau it most certainly was not, but the powerlessness he felt accented the story rather than dimming it.