Edith Wharton 
The Gods Arrive 

The Gods Arrive continues the story of Vance Weston and Halo Spear Tarrant of Hudson River Bracketed. At the end of Hudson River Bracketed, Vance's wife Laura Lou has died and Halo, although married to the aristocratic Lewis Tarrant, acknowledges her feelings for Vance. In The Gods Arrive, Tarrant refuses to give Halo a divorce. Halo, however, has just inherited from her relative, Elinor Lorburn, the Hudson River Bracketed house called the Willows, along with an independent income.