The Rise of Silas Lapham

As the new year passes, Silas is close to deciding that he cannot bring himself to sell the mills at their false value to buyers who do not know their true worthlessness. He pauses the construction work on his family home and, for the first time since the business began, tells his paint factories to shut down. During this period, he explains to Persis, he is facing competition from a West Virginia rival that drastically undersells their paint in competition with him. The market is “overstocked” (288), causing him to close the business that has made him rich.

Persis remembers the slip of paper and asks him about the identity of the person receiving mysterious payments. Silas remains silent. He takes the paper from her and tears it to shreds, then throws the shreds on the fire. When Persis inspects the fireplace the following day, she finds a scrap bearing the name “Mrs. M.” (289). She is concerned about the identity of this mystery woman, and she confronts her husband. He refuses to elaborate.

In his office, Silas tells Tom that he should leave the business. Tom offers to loan Silas “about thirty thousand dollars” (290) to keep the business afloat but Silas declines. After their meeting, Silas is confronted by the mother of his typist, Zerrilla. Mrs. Millon demands money for rent and food. Silas encourages her to leave but, afterward, gives the money to Zerrilla, who confesses that her husband Dewey has returned from his voyage, and he spent the whole night up drinking with her mother. Between them, they drank all their available cash. Rules regarding divorce (Dewey is not a “habitual” (294) drinker, nor has he been away for more than a year) mean that Zerrilla is not legally allowed to divorce her husband. Silas visits her house that evening. He tells Dewey that he will support the wife and daughter of Jim Millon as a way to thank Jim for saving his life. However, he will not support Dewey. As he exits their house, he passes Rogers. During this time, Tom has learned from Walker that there is something strange about Silas’s relationship with Zerrilla and Mrs. Millon. Neither man knows the exact nature of this strangeness, however. Walker hints to Tom that Silas may have taken Zerrilla as a mistress. Tom is unwilling to believe this. Silas returns home and tells his wife that they have lost all their money in the stock market. He tells her about Tom’s offer to loan him money, which Persis then tells Penelope.

With the help of his uncle, James Bellingham, Tom makes his own investigations into the financial difficulties facing Silas. He discovers that the West Virginia company is able to sell their paint at a far lower price than Silas, driving him out of the market. Tom mulls over possible solutions. At this time, he receives a note from Penelope. She has learned about his offer of a loan to Silas, and she thanks him. He responds, asking to see her. Penelope refuses to see Tom.

Jim Bellingham tells Silas that he should place himself at the mercy of his debtors. Silas is a proud man. He believes that he can find a solution. He puts his family home up for sale. When an offer comes in, however, he cannot give up so easily on the house that represents a lifetime of social ambitions. He visits the incomplete house and lights a fire, then stamps it out before leaving. When he returns later with Penelope, he sees “a mass of flame” (313) in the distance. Since the chimney is not finished, however, he has burned down the house. The house is not presently insured, as the policy lapsed the previous week. Persis is relieved that the expired policy will mean that no one can accuse Silas of burning down the house to claim the insurance money. The house is a “dead loss” (314).

In a final act of desperation, Silas reaches out to the rival paint company from West Virginia. He proposes that they merge their businesses. They do not rebuff the proposal but ask him for a large sum of capital to invest in the business. If Silas can come forward with such a sum, they say, they will be able to develop their business and they will agree to the merger. Silas knows that he does not have the money on hand. When Rogers returns with the prospective English buyers, Silas learns that the money they are offering will allow him to proceed with the merger. Rogers reveals that these buyers are merely representatives. They represent their English clients, who have no particular concern about how the money is spent. They hint at corruption and deceit, souring Silas toward them. Silas is still not able to give them a definitive answer.

Silas returns home. There, he finds Rogers deep in conversation with Persis. Rogers wants Persis to convince her husband to accept the representatives’ offer. He claims that this is the only way to save the Lapham family. Persis has been tied up in knots by Rogers’s persuasive arguments. When Rogers offers to buy the mills directly from Silas (so that he can then sell the mills to the representatives), Persis cannot advise her husband. Silas spends the night anxiously deliberating what he should do. The following morning, he goes to his office where a letter from the railroad has arrived. The letter indicates the horrifically low price at which they will buy the mills, ruining Silas and Rogers. Silas shows the letter to Rogers, who claims that Silas has “ruined” (331) him. Silas has stood up for what he believes is right. In return, he has been made to feel like “a thief and a murderer” (332).

Silas follows Bellingham’s advice. He visits the West Virginian paint company in their New York offices and asks for more time to raise the capital for the merger. Persis regrets not being able to advise her husband. For the first time in almost a year, she visits his office. Since Silas is gone, she only finds his typist. Returning home, she discovers that an anonymous person has left a letter for her. The letter encourages Persis to find out more about her husband’s mysterious typist and is signed “A Friend and Well-wisher” (337). Persis immediately jumps to the conclusion that Zerrilla is her husband’s mistress. She believes that the typist could be the mysterious woman who has been receiving regular payments, as indicated by the scraps of paper she discovered. Persis is furious. When Silas returns, he is confronted by his wife. Silas has no answer. Instead, he slips away without telling his wife where he is headed. Silas goes to the town of Lapham.

Persis looks for Silas at his office. There, she discovers that the typist’s full name is Zerrilla Millon Dewey. She knows that this is the daughter of the man who saved Silas’s life during the war. For years, she believed that Silas’s debt to Jim Millon was resolved, but Silas always felt responsible for the man’s family. Satisfied, she returns home. She blames herself for reacting so angrily and not trusting her husband. She begins to wonder whether Silas will ever come back to her. At a loss, she writes a note to Tom. She asks him whether he knows Silas’s location. He brings what little news he has as a pretext for visiting Penelope, who is grateful for his presence. Irene unexpectedly returns home. She is angry that the family did not inform her of the financial troubles. She tries to help by ensuring that all the little household issues are put in order.

The following day, Tom encourages his mother to visit the Lapham family. He suggests to her that he intends to marry Penelope and that they have overcome their differences. The Corey family finds themselves caught in a difficult situation. They have told themselves for many years that they do not care about money. As such, they cannot complain about the “uncultivated” (346) Laphams’ sudden loss of fortune. Bromfield cannot bring himself to relent to such hypocrisy. 

Irene returns from the west hardened and more mature. Silas has a business meeting with an investor. The man wants to invest in Silas’s business, offering enough money that would allow the merger to proceed. Silas insists that he cannot deceive the man. When he reveals the true state of his business, the investor withdraws the offer. Lapham sells another property, and the family moves back to the old farm. The West Virginian company initially allows Silas to continue in the paint business, as his upmarket Persis brand does not compete with any of their own brands. Later, they purchase his factories and merge the businesses, while bringing Tom on board as an investor to explore South American markets. Silas runs this smaller part of the company; his debts are paid and he is now a part of the larger business, even if he is not as rich as he once was. His “flagging energies” (354) mean that he will never return his company to its former glories.

Tom marries Penelope and begins to travel around Mexico, using his Spanish skills to expand the company’s market south of the border. Before they depart, they spend a week with the Corey family. The Coreys do not warm completely to Penelope, but they are polite and accepting. Minister Sewell is impressed by the moral stance that Silas adopted throughout his dealings. He visits the Lapham farm to meet with Silas. Silas confesses that he still feels bad about what he did to Rogers many years ago. That betrayal led to a seemingly unstoppable series of moral compromises that he could not halt until everything fell apart. He feels as though he just about managed to escape with his morality after refusing to compromise on the mills, despite Rogers’s pleas.