nds."

Cary put out his hand and moved a piece with suddenness. "Granted the
connection," he said aloud. His eye gleamed. "That night Rand agreed
with Burr. Gaudylock would have been there to give information;
probably, seeing that he went West immediately afterwards, to receive
instructions. But he is an asset of Lewis Rand's, not of Burr's."

His hand touched the piece again. "An asset of Lewis Rand's--Rand and
Burr--Rand and Burr. What was it that they plotted that night while she
talked to me of the new song she had learned? An expedition against
Mexico, an attack upon the dominions of the King of Spain with whom we
are at peace? Or a revolution in the country west of the Ohio? The one's
a misdemeanour; the other's treason." He moved a rook. "Most like 'twas
both--the first to mask the second. The boldest, simplest, most
comprehensive stroke; there, there would show the mind of Lewis Rand!"

He rose and paced the long, cool room, then came back to the chess
table. "They parted. Burr to the North, as I found the next morning;
this trader, as he says, back to the West; Lewis Rand quiet in Richmond,
quiet here in Albemarle. Quiet! That speech of his--those letters in the
Enquirer. How long has he been breaking with Mr. Jefferson? That
journey, too, to Philadelphia--whom did he see there? Swartwout,
Bollman, perhaps Burr himself? Home he comes to Albemarle and begins
improving Roselands. Cases too, in court, and a queue of waiting
clients, and Richmond to return to in November. Granted there's a
strange emigration West; but Lewis Rand--Lewis Rand's as fixed in
Virginia as are the Churchills and the Carys!"

He slowly lifted and as slowly moved a queen. "And what other course,
from time out of mind, does the disloyal pursue? A mask--all a mask. He,
too, is for the West. He goes to join Burr; goes, if his fate stands
true, to supplant Burr. Matters draw to a point, and he has little time
to spare! Say that he goes"--A movement of his arm, involuntary and
sharp, jarred the table and disarranged the board. "Will he go alone?"

Cary rose and walked the floor. "I must know--I must know." He paused at
a western window, and with unseeing eyes gazed into the blue distance.
"Were he Ludwell Cary, would he fare forth on his adventure alone?
Perhaps. Being Lewis Rand, will he go without her, leave her behind? A
thousand times, no! Even now this daughter of Burr's is hurrying by day
and by night over rough and over smooth, to jo