But at the sight of him she drew back with a little cry of surprise and fear.
“You’re not Lee Hendon?” she faltered. “You can’t be!”
“Of course I am,” he replied gravely, and then Dorothea understood something in Hal’s talk that had puzzled her, for Lee Hendon was dressed in the uniform of a Union officer.
CHAPTER XXI
IN COULTER WOODS
The first thought that came into Dorothea’s mind when she saw Lee Hendon in the uniform of a Northern officer was concerned with April.
“Does she know?” the girl questioned herself, and found no ready answer. The suspicion had held in her mind that April was in communication with Lee Hendon; but it was not a suspicion likely to be shared by Hal, who, it was plain enough, had confided his mission to her, because, so far as he was aware, there was no other in the household who would have undertaken it.
This passed through her mind in a flash, for the young man before her seemed ill at ease and glanced about him apprehensively.
“You are very good to have come,” he said most politely. “I do not know who you are; but—”
“I am Mrs. May’s niece,” Dorothea interrupted. “My name is Dorothea Drummond and my home was in England.”