'The Witch à la Mode' examines the theme of marriage and the social and passionate contrasts of a modern marriage. The hero of the story returns to England to undertake a 'respectable' marriage but is drawn to see the passionate love of his life once more. Their mutual passion attracts and repels the couple in equal measure but the young man pulls away in a literal fire of passion. He escapes from the witch of his desires to the respectability he craves but we wonder if he can be truly happy without the sensual side of his life being satisfied.