AN ANTIQUE LAW SENDS TREMORS THROUGH MANY A HEART

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While the verdict may have come as balm to the hearts of desperate summer talk-show hosts, spurned spouses and anti-divorce activists, it's unlikely to start a trend. The vast majority of states that have rejected such suits aren't likely to start allowing them again, says Professor Dan Subotnik of Touro Law Center in New York. As for Dorothy's sweet revenge, the new Mrs. Hutelmyer claims to feel no rancor. "I feel sorry for her," she says. "Until she can acknowledge that she shares in the responsibility of the breakdown of that marriage, she can never get on with her life."

--By Nancy Gibbs. Reported by Andrea Sachs/New York