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Miss or Mrs? (1871) is one of Wilkie Collins's later short novels, often categorized as a ""Christmas story,"" though it departs from the supernatural tone frequently associated with that label in the Victorian period. Instead, Collins crafts a tightly woven domestic drama centered on secrecy, inheritance, and social conventions. The narrative follows the young Natalie Graybrooke, whose affection for the engineer Launcelot Linzie collides with the rigid expectations of her wealthy family. The story's central tension lies in the clandestine marriage between Natalie and Launcelot, concealed under pressure from her authoritarian relatives. Collins uses this conflict to explore Victorian anxieties about women's autonomy, parental authority, and the legal weight of marital status-the very question implicit in the title: is Natalie to be regarded as ""Miss"" (unmarried, dependent) or ""Mrs"" (married, and thus transformed in law and society)? While less famous than The Woman in White or The Moonstone, this novella exemplifies Collins's gift for combining sensation with social commentary, highlighting the precarious position of women in matters of love, money, and law.

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