The reading stopped at ". . . the county Sligo." (16.1642)
Summary:
Bloom's thoughts have been revolving around the scandal, the court case, and how finally it brought Parnell down. The evidence produced in the court during the divorce case filed by the husband was the usual affectionate letters that passed between them full of sweet nothings.
Though he will try again to start in earnest a conversation with Stephen, at this moment thoughts rise in Bloom's mind about the eternal question of the life connubial. Can real love, supposing there happens to be another chap in the case, exist between married folk? (There is obviously another chap in his own marriage. Through out the day, Bloom has been doing his utmost to suppress thinking about this chap.) It is thoughts like these that make Bloom a very likeable person.
