There was a silence, then one or two men laughed.
"Is Mrs. Hamilton at Province House?" I asked, not understanding the careless handling of her name among these gentlemen.
Again came laughter.
"It is easy to see that you have been in prison," observed the Sudbury officer. "Mrs. Hamilton rules at Province House, and leads Tommy Gage by the nose—"
"By the left hand," interrupted another, maliciously.
"You mean that Mrs. Hamilton is—is—" I began.
"Town scandal," said the officer.
"It may be a lie," observed a young man mounted on a powerful gray.
"It is a lie," I said, with an ugly emphasis.
"Is that remark addressed to me, sir?" demanded the Sudbury officer, sharply.