Whichever conclusion is accepted, had the reports of Merry and Yrujo been made public at the time of the trials, one wonders whether in October, 1807, Aaron Burr would have walked out of the Circuit Court for the Fifth District of Virginia a free man. _Chapter_ XXI The trial ended, those of the principals whose homes were in Richmond returned to their normal pursuits in the city, while those from a distance departed to pick up the threads of their various careers elsewhere. What became of them in later years and what changes were wrought in the scene of their activities during the long hot summer of 1807 are the proper subject for a closing chapter. Richmond itself continued to grow and prosper. Its important status as capital of the State of Virginia, the seat of the administrative branch of state government, of the legislature and the judiciary, and its favorable location as a center of commerce contributed toward a continued activity of which the Burr trial was merely one outstanding episode. Prosperity had its reflections in the physical appearance of the city. As Lawyer Wickham’s practice became more lucrative, and as his increasing progeny began to tax his domestic establishment, he bethought himself of building a new house. For this project he engaged the services of the distinguished young architect Robert Mills. The result of their combined efforts was the handsome house, with its graceful spiral stairway, which survives to this day as the home of the Valentine Museum. Another actor in the drama, who played a modest role as a member of the Grand Jury, also took advantage of increasing good fortune to employ Mr. Mills to build a mansion commensurate with it. Dr. John Brockenbrough, advanced from cashier to president of the Bank of Virginia, chose a site on Shockoe Hill on an eminence with a sweeping view to the east. The new abode was a fitting setting for his wife Gabriella’s salons. It has been destined to go down in history as the White House of the Confederacy. They were but two of many other ambitious houses that altered the modest, homely face of Shockoe Hill. Even as they were rising, however, fashion was shifting westward. Within a few decades it was to sound the death knell of the Hill as a desirable residential quarter. The only dwelling of distinction which stood there at the time of the Burr trial and which stands today is the house of Chief Justice Marshall. Restored and reverently cared for, it enables visitors to visualize what life on the Hill was like when, under its roof or in the shade of the trees on the lawn, the master penned his famous opinions.