A Lost Lady

Two years have passed since Niel was last home. The first familiar person he encounters is Ivy Peters, who gets on the train a few stops before Sweet Water. Ivy speaks contemptuously to Niel, asking if he has come home to do business. When Niel replies that he is only home for the summer holiday, Ivy remarks that it must take longer to become an architect than a lawyer, which is Ivy’s primary profession.

Ivy tells Niel that he is renting the meadow on the Forrester place, which he has drained so that it can be planted with wheat. Ivy remarks that it is a profitable endeavor and the Forresters need the rent money to get by. Ivy seems to relish telling Niel that Captain Forrester, like the other “old-timers” that used to visit him, has “come down in the world” (58). Ivy reminisces about how Captain Forrester used to forbid hunting on his property, but now Ivy regularly hunts there.

Niel realizes the Ivy is baiting him to express disappointment over the Forresters’ diminished standing. Instead Niel inquires about Captain Forrester’s health. Ivy comments that Captain Forrester is “half” there, though he does concede that Mrs.