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CHAPTER VI.
The young widow of First street.—The hypocrisy of Burr.—Temptation, fall, and subsequent distress.
As Aaron Burr had some business to attend to in an adjoining colony, which could not be neglected, he had told Angelina Dudley that they should not be able to meet again under a week. He promised, however, that he would write to her.
He then set out for New York. His business detained him longer than he had expected, and he had been some ten days in the Empire City, when one of the most remarkable events of his life occurred. As this affair is connected with the history of his intrigues, we will endeavor to recount the whole story as it happened.
On a Sunday evening, Burr was sauntering about the streets, and ogling the ladies, when he chanced to hear the singing of a church congregation in his vicinity. He followed the sound till he came to a substantial Methodist meeting house, and having nothing else to do, he dropped in, and took a seat with the rest.
A remarkably eloquent preacher was, at that time, holding forth, having just commenced his sermon. Burr listened attentively, and the stirring discourse of the reverend gentleman appears to have made some impression upon his feelings. The singing which followed was very animated, and being one of those lively tunes common among the Methodists, was to Burr a rarity.
Among those who sang was a young lady, who sat not far from our hero, and her voice could be distinguished from those of the other singers, being peculiarly pure, rich and melodious. Her hair was black as the raven's wing, while her blue eyes were large, and fringed with long dark lashes. As her lips parted, they disclosed small white teeth, very evenly placed. Her features were not of that precisely regular form which is supposed to constitute a perfect beauty, but the whole expression of her countenance, animated as it was with devotion, pleased Burr exceedingly, and he could not keep his eyes from her countenance.
We may as well say, in this place, that the beautiful devotee was a Mrs. Keating, a young widow, who had lost her husband a year before the time mentioned. Her husband was a young man of education and well bred, but had become reduced by his father's failure in business,
