Rand spoke at last His voice had a curious suppressed tone, and upon his forehead, between the eyes, was displayed the horseshoe frown of extreme anger.  Mocket had seen it earlier in the day, and it was now distinct as a brand.  “I am not going,” he said, “to take the Winchester case.  This damned business here will soon be over.  I shall wait to hear the verdict, and then I’m going to Albemarle.”

“What d’ye think the verdict will be?”

“They’ll acquit him.  Barring Wirt, he has all the talent on his side.  I’ll leave you here to clear up things.”

“Does Mrs. Rand wait here for you?”

“No.  She leaves Richmond with Miss Dandridge to-morrow.”

Tom took out his knife and began to whittle, an occupation that in him denoted sustained mental exertion.  The other sat on before the empty fireplace, the mark upon his forehead, his hand twitching where it lay upon the arm of his chair.  The clock ticked loudly; the sun, now low in the heavens, sent its gold shafts through the window; outside, the locusts shrilled in a dusty sycamore.  Rand rose and, going to the cupboard, took from it a bottle and a glass, poured out brandy for himself, and drank it.  In an age of hard drinking he was accounted puritanically abstemious.  Mocket, glancing after him, knew that the draught meant disturbance so deep that the organism needed, rather than craved, the strength within the glass.  Rand came back to the fireplace.

“Do you remember when, in November, I burned here, or thought I burned here, all papers, all letters—­”

“Do I?” asked Mocket, with emphasis.  “There’s nothing happened to make me forget.”

“A man cannot weave a net so fine that some minnow will not slip through and become leviathan!  It escaped and has grown.  Well, that too was in the nature of things.”  He took the ash-stick from the corner of the hearth and handled it as though he were again holding down burning papers.  “So things are all right at Williamsburgh?  I had a happy home-coming.”

“You always have that,” said Tom simply.  “You’ve had a wonderful fortune, and more there than anywhere.  I’m always telling Vinie—­”

“Vinie!” answered the other.  “Vinie would always blindly worship on.  The sun might darken and go out, but where’s the odds since she would never know it!  Faith like a dog’s or a child’s or Vinie’s—­there’s comfort there!  But the awakened mind, and Judgment side by side upon the throne with Love—­Oh, there’s verjuice in the world!” He broke into harsh laughter.

“I wish I knew what ailed you,” thought Mocket.  “I’ll try another tack.”  He stopped whittling and turned from his desk.  “Coming out of the Capitol, I heard Ludwell Cary say that he goes next week to Albemarle.”