The copy of the farewell letter from St. Udo to herself was the next glimpse of a familiar past, with the leaf turned down just where the cunning hypocrite had marked the place during that walk under the oaks.
Then a copy of his letter to Lady Juliana Ducie, in which he had "pinned his faith" to her sleeve, with a memorandum attached of, "Faithfully mailed by good Thoms; and thus ends St. U.'s affair with little Ducie. Now he will fight like a devil with these Yankees."
Following this was the transcription of two letters to Gay and Davenport, in which St. Udo had scornfully explained the fact of his departure from England.
Then came the secret of his ready recognition of Lady Juliana when she stood before him in the Brands' reception-room. Her photograph, painted beautifully, was pasted into a cunning little pocket, and her description was written out at full, as if the picture were not to be trusted alone.
Initials of strange names—addresses in London, scraps of information about officers in the Guards—a frequent (see private album)—carefully noted bon mots of different English friends of the colonel's, anecdotes of London life, all headed by the significant note:
"Brand's daily gossip.—Study well."
Then came a copy of Lady Juliana's letter of dismissal, with the comment:
"Thoms, my boy, you did well to search that vest pocket."
This grim pleasantry of the genial writer closed what appeared to be part the first in the movements of the watched man.
Let her think before she turned the leaf; let her rest her whirling brain awhile, and examine this curious idea which had slid into her mind. Who was Thoms!