"My name is Prescott, Robert Prescott, and I am a captain in the Confederate Army, as you may see by my uniform."
He noticed that the trembling of her lip increased and she looked fearfully at him; but the red flush of anger on her cheek deepened, too. The chief impression that she made on Prescott was pathetic, standing there in her poverty of dress and room, and he hastened to add:
"But I am here on my own private business; I have not come to annoy you. I merely want to inquire of a woman, a lodger of yours."
"I have no lodgers," she replied; "I am alone."
"I don't think I can be mistaken," said Prescott; "she told me that she was staying in this house."
"And may I ask the name of this lady who knows more about my own house than I do?" asked Miss Grayson with unconcealed sarcasm.
Prescott saw that her courage was now getting the better of her timidity. He hesitated and felt his cheeks redden.
"I do not know," he was forced to reply.
Miss Grayson's gaze became steady and triumphant.
"Does it not then occur to you, Captain Prescott, that you are proceeding upon a very slender basis when you doubt my word?"