Summary

Chapter 4: No letters from Oliver Ward to Susan have been saved. Lyman does not know how one evening’s acquaintance ripened into a tacit engagement through five years of absence. While Oliver is out west trying to prove himself, Susan is meeting famous people and receiving commissions for her artwork. She is enjoying herself.

Thomas Hudson joins Augusta and Susan in friendship. Lyman feels at this time Susan was not interested in marriage. She had her career, Augusta, and Thomas. Susan’s family is relatively poor so she puts a higher value on gentility. Thomas is ambitious and is the assistant editor of Scribner’s, a literary journal. When Susan discovers Thomas is in love with Augusta, she does not move to New York as she was planning, but goes home to Milton. Susan may have had thoughts of having Thomas for herself, but she...