Lambchop and the Serious Courtship

Nicodemus watched Andrew Norton drive away in his slightly old-fashioned carriage and
stayed on the porch even once Andrew was out of sight. The autumn air after midday was not
cool, exactly, but it was better than being indoors for Nicodemus at the moment, and, from the
porch, he could see the curlicue of smoke rising above the whitewashed and ivy-covered fence
that marked the edge of the Holts’ property and one side of Bel’s.
It was unusual to see the curl of cigarette smoke at this time of day, a little past one o’clock.
Lewis Belasco—Bel—was not an early riser by any means. He kept his own hours, which made
the good people in town suspicious, or envious, and added more fuel to the stories and gossip
that had built up around Bel in the years since he had purchased the house and the surrounding
land.
No one quite knew what Bel did for a living, for a start. He traveled frequently, often gone for
weeks to the nearest city or beyond. When out, he wore clothes in the newest fashions...