Nevertheless, so complete was his control of voice and manner that, as he rode on to his quarters, no one would have dreamed that General Brant had just looked upon the likeness of the wife from whom he had parted in anger four years ago.

Still less would they have suspected the strange fear that came upon him that in some way she was connected with the treachery he had just discovered.

He had heard from her only once, and then through her late husband's lawyer, in regard to her Californian property, and believed that she had gone to her relations in Alabama, where she had identified herself with the Southern cause, even to the sacrifice of her private fortune.

He had heard her name mentioned in the Southern press as a fascinating society leader, and even coadjutrix of Southern politicians,--but he had no reason to believe that she had taken so active or so desperate a part in the struggle.

He tried to think that his uneasiness sprang from his recollection of the previous treachery of Captain Pinckney, and the part that she had played in the Californian conspiracy, although he had long since acquitted her of the betrayal of any nearer trust.