"I promise, Mary."
"Please!"
With a lingering look of sympathy for brother and sister, Mrs. Lee softly left the room.
Lee stood gazing through the window across the shining waters of the river whose mirror but a few months ago had reflected the distorted faces of John Brown and his men at Harper's Ferry. It had come, the vision he had seen as he looked on the dark stains that fateful morning.
He dreaded this interview with his sister. He knew the views of Judge
Marshall, her husband. He knew her own love for the Union.
She was struggling for control of Her emotions and her voice was strained.
"You've—you've heard this awful news from Richmond?"
"Yes," he answered quietly. "And I've long felt it coming. The first thunderbolt struck us at Harper's Ferry. The storm has broken now—"
"What are you going to do?"
She asked the question as if half afraid to pronounce the words. Lee turned away in silence. She followed him and laid a hand on his arm.