But he was not diverted from his
ultimate purpose by the glamour of a present popularity; he was
able to keep his bleared eyes resolutely fixed on the main
chance, namely the Fentress estate and the Quintard lands. It
was highly important that he should go east to South Carolina to
secure documentary evidence that would establish his own and
Fentress' identity, to Kentucky, where Fentress had lived prior
to his coming to Tennessee.
Early in November the judge set out by stage on his journey east;
he was accompanied by Yancy and Hannibal, from neither of whom
could he bring himself to be separated; and as the woods, flaming
now with the touch of frost, engulfed the little town, he turned
in his seat and looked back. He had entered it by that very
road, a beggar on foot and in rags; he was leaving it in
broadcloth and fine linen, visible tokens of his altered
fortunes. More than this, he could thrust his hands deep down
into his once empty pockets and hear the clink of gold and
silver. The judge slowly withdrew his eyes from the last gray
roof that showed among the trees, and faced the east and the
future with a serenely confident expression.
Betty Malroy and Carrington had ridden into Raleigh to take leave
of their friends. They had watched the stage from sight, had
answered the last majestic salute the judge had given them across
the swaying top of the coach before the first turn of the road
hid it from sight, and then they had turned their horses' heads
in the direction of Belle Plain.
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