She was looking very handsome and slightly flushed, with a proud light in her eyes that he had never seen before.

Absorbed in the discussion, she seemed to be paying little attention to Captain Pinckney as she rose suddenly to her feet.
"Judge Beeswinger will be attended here by Mr.MacNiel, of the Fair Plains Hotel, who will vouch for him and introduce him," she said in a clear voice, which rang with an imperiousness that Clarence well remembered.

"The judge was to arrive by the coach from Martinez to Fair Plains, and is due now." "Is there no GENTLEMAN to introduce him?
Must we take him on the word of a common trader--by Jove! a whiskey-seller ?" continued the previous voice sneeringly.
"On the word of a lady, Mr.Brooks," said Captain Pinckney, with a slight gesture towards Mrs.Brant--"who answers for both." Clarence had started slightly at his wife's voice and the information it conveyed.

His fellow-passenger, and the confidant of MacNiel, was the man they were expecting! If they had recognized him, Clarence, would they not warn the company of his proximity?
He held his breath as the sound of voices came from the outer gate of the courtyard.

Mrs.Brant rose; at the same moment the gate swung open, and a man entered.