Her unfortunate marriage has had very little effect on her. She never was so handsome in her life. She enjoys exciting the sympathies of those by whom she is surrounded, including half-a-dozen gentlemen who are constantly dangling around her. A young lawyer, who was boarding at the same house, undertook to institute proceedings for a divorce against the absent signor. He was successful in his application, and Belle is now legally free. She will probably marry some man of coarse taste, who will be attracted by her fine form and showy appearance, to say nothing of the effect of the prevalent belief that she will certainly be provided for 'on old Meeker's death.'
So much for the present situation of the Meeker family. While Arabella is taking her drive, I have had time to tell the reader thus much about it. The carriage is now approaching, and I must stop.
The shadows of evening begin to gather. Along the great artery of the city press the crowd. Their steps tend homeward.
Still Hiram sits by the window, but oblivious of the current which sweeps by.
His thoughts go back to Hampton. He is a clerk in the 'opposition store,' making love to Mary Jessup.
'What a pretty girl she used to be!—how much she always did for me—what pains she took to please me!' he mutters to himself.
Now he is thinking of Burnsville. His mind seems principally to dwell on what was formerly of secondary importance to him.