John Bull on the Guadalquivir

Anthony Trollope's John Bull on the Guadalquivir is a short story centering around the eponymous character and narrator. The latter belongs to an English family, the Pomfrets, which has always been connected with the south of Spain for the sake of trading activities. The most important Spanish counterpart with whom the Pomfrets trade are the Daguilars. When young Maria Daguilar once visits the Pomfrets, John falls in love with her. He immediately starts making advances to her, being mainly attracted by her exotic beauty, culture and pronunciation. John then decides to travel down the Guadalquivir after his beloved with the hope to propose to her. On the way to his destination, he comes across a quixotic man on the boat and takes him for a matador due to his gaudy clothes. At Seville, John is warmly received by the Daguilars and by Maria in particular who takes him for tours around, the house, the town, and the region. Later, he is greatly embarrassed to meet again the strange man seen on the boat and learns, to his surprise, that he is the noble Marquis d'Almavivas. The Marquis invites John to the parties that he organizes at home and they become friends. Trollope's first-person narrator then quickly closes the narrative happily informing the readers of the success of his love story.