"Suppose he should, by any means, hear of her improper conduct. Would not the consequence be bad?"
"He can't hear much worse of her than she can hear of him. She never was guilty of direct impropriety of conduct that could touch her moral character, although there is no telling what she would have done, had there not been, always, the most careful guardianship over her. If we had not brought her to Philadelphia when we did, I'm afraid she would have been lost."
"It's a relief that she's married, certainly."
"Isn't it; even if only married for her money, which I hear her husband sets down at seventy thousand dollars."
"He'll find himself mistaken."
"Won't he. As bitterly as ever a man did."
So much for the prospect of happiness in the married life of Lawrence Dunbar.
We must now glance back for a few years, and bring up the history of other characters in our story.