Billy loved his older brother George, but toward Stanley he felt a certain nameless ambiguity that had no respect in it but plenty of guilt, and — shamefully — no affection. He didn't know a single person in Washington, but that wouldn't force him to see Stanley. In fact, he'd chosen to eat breakfast here at the National Hotel because a large part of its clientele was still pro-Southern, and there was little chance of encountering Stanley, who was anything but.

He paid his bill and handed a tip to the waiter. "Thank you, sir — thank you. That's much more than I ever get from all those cheap Westerners traipsing into town to get jobs from their nigger-loving President. Luckily, we don't get many of the Western crowd here. They scarcely drink, I doubt they fornicate, and they all carry their own bags. Some of my friends at other hotels can't earn —"

Billy walked away from the complainer, whose accent suggested he'd migrated from a Southern or border state. There seemed to be plenty like him in the capital. Yankees, but only nominally. If the city fell, as well it might, they'd be in the streets waving the Stars and Bars to welcome Jeff Davis.

Outside, on the corner of Sixth and Pennsylvania, he discovered that the muggy gray sky had produced a drizzle. He put on his dress hat of black felt; one side of its braided brim was turned up against the crown and held by a bright brass eagle. The drizzle wouldn't impede a brisk walk.

Billy, a year older than his friend Charles, was a powerfully built young man with the dark hair and pale, icy eyes that ran in the Hazard family. A blunt chin lent him an air of dependability, a look of strength. He'd recently succumbed to the new craze for mustaches; his, from which he now flicked a crumb of breakfast roll, was almost black, thick and darker than his hair.

Since Billy suspected this Captain Farmer of being a political appointee, he wasn't anxious to report early. He decided to spend a few more hours exploring the city — the parts of it well removed from the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue, the respectable, fashionable side.