"Because of Murray," Cousin Merry said slowly, sadly. "It was a cruel thing to do, so cruel. Alexander Mattock was a hard man. He couldn't bear opposition; it made him go close to the edge of sanity, I truly believe. I know we are not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I can't forgive him for what he did to those two. Melanie and Hunt were so young, young and in love. And your Uncle Murray deliberately pushed that quarrel on Hunt. Jefferson was there; he tried to stop it. The duel was _not_ Hunt's fault----" "Uncle Murray and my father fought a duel?" Drew demanded. "Yes. Murray was badly wounded, and for a time his life was despaired of. Your grandfather swore out a warrant against Hunt for attempted murder! So he and Melanie ran away. They were so pitifully young! Melanie was just sixteen and Hunt two years older, though he seemed a man, having lived such a hard life on the frontier. They went back to Texas, and she was very happy there--I had some letters from her. Yes, she was happy until the War with Mexico began. Then Hunt was reported killed, his father, too. And she was left all alone with distant kin of theirs. So your grandfather went down to fetch her home. I'll always believe he really wanted to punish her for going against his will. She died--" her voice broke--"she died, because she had no will to live, and _then_ he was sorry. But just a little, not enough to blame himself any. Oh, no--it was still all Hunt's wickedness, he said, every bit of it! He was a hard man...." Cousin Merry faced Aunt Marianna with her chin up as if daring the other to object what she'd just said. Drew returned to the news he still found difficult to believe. "So my father's alive, Major. Well, that gives me some place to go--Texas...." "Hunt Rennie's not in Texas." Cousin Merry spoke with such certainty that all three of them gave her their full attention. "I married Jefferson Barrett six months after Melanie eloped. We went to Europe then for almost two years of traveling. Part of our mail must have been lost. Hunt surely wrote to me! He liked Jefferson in spite of the differences in their ages. If I had only had the chance to tell him the truth about you, Drew. But I never knew he was alive either. You remember Granger Wood, Justin?" Major Forbes nodded. "He went out to California in '50." "Yes, and when the war broke out he rode back across the Arizona and New Mexico territories with General Johnston to enlist in the Confederate forces. A month ago he came back here and he called to tell me he saw Hunt in Arizona in '61. He had a horse-and-cattle ranch there, also some mining holdings." "Drew"--Aunt Marianna caught his arm--"you won't be so foolish as to go out into that horrible wilderness hunting a man who doesn't even know you're alive--who's a perfect stranger to you? You must be sensible. We know that Father's will was very unjust, and we are not going to abide by its terms--half of Red Springs will be yours."