How she had watched and waited, and yet there was no tidings of his coming.
Was Tite lost?
If so, how, and where was he lost?
Must she give him up as gone forever?
Must she give him up, and see him, and hold sweet communion with him, only in her love-dream, among the flowers fancy pictures in the garden of our hopes?
Must she forget the idol of her love, transport her affections, yield to her mother's wishes, which were daily becoming more pressing, and marry Mr.Gusher, a man she did not even respect, much less love?
In gratifying a mother's ambition she might, perhaps, make her own life wretched.

If Tite was lost, what was to become of his aged parents, Hanz and Angeline?
Their welfare seemed to concern her even more deeply than that of her own parents.

Hanz had found means of communicating with her, had made her acquainted with all his troubles, and now the day set for a hearing of his case was near at hand.
Mattie knew nothing really bad of Mr.Gusher.He had seemed to her one of those uncertain characters who float about on the surface of society without having any fixed position in it, who have no legitimate occupation, depend on chance for everything, and lead an artificial life generally.

Such men, it had seemed to her, were poor companions to sail down the stormy sea of life with.

In Tite she saw something real, good, substantial; one of those young men who prosper and build up their own fortunes and future, because they apply themselves steadily and energetically to the legitimate pursuits of life.
The door opened suddenly, and Mattie's reverie was interrupted by her mother, whose portly figure quite filled the space, for, in truth, the lady had enlarged her hip circumference with an unpardonable amount of padding.