After the Storm

After this, the two ladies met every day or two, and sometimes

walked Broadway together. The only information that Mrs. Emerson had

in regard to her attractive friend she received from Mrs. Talbot.

According to her statement, she was a widow whose married life had

not been a happy one. The husband, like most husbands, was an

overbearing tyrant, and the wife, having a spirit of her own,

resisted his authority. Trouble was the consequence, and Mrs. Talbot

thought, though she was not certain, that a separation took place

before Mr. Lloyd's death. She had a moderate income, which came from

her husband's estate, on which she lived in a kind of idle

independence. So she had plenty of time to read, visit and enjoy

herself in the ways her fancy or inclination might prompt.