they gave each other quite as bad names as the public generally gave
them; and that Mrs. Winslow could not have been considered exactly the
pink of perfection if judged even by those of her own persuasion, as one
vaguely hinted at her having played the same game on other parties.
Another was sure she had been a camp-follower during the war. Another
assured me that she had similar suits at Louisville, Cincinnati, and St.
Louis. Still another was quite certain that she was only a common
woman. Altogether, according to these reports, which were easily enough
secured, as her case against Lyon was the engrossing subject of the hour
at Rochester, it appeared that the ravishing Mrs. Winslow held her
place, such as it was, in the world more through her supreme will power,
and the respect through fear she unconsciously inspired in others, than
through any of the tenderer graces or a superabundance of personal
purity.

From cautious inquiries and the wonderful amount of street, saloon, and
hotel talk which the affair was causing, I also ascertained that Mrs.
Winslow had made her appearance in Rochester some years before; some
said from the east, and some from the West, but the preponderance of
evidence indicated that it had been from the West; that she had at once
allied herself with the spiritualists of the city, and Lyon had first
met or seen her at one of their seances or lectures; that he had at once
yielded to her charms, and begun visiting her for "advice," as it was
sarcastically reported, continuing the visits with such frequency and
regularity as to hasten the death of his wife, after which event he had
given his new affinity nearly his entire attention until she had come to
be commonly considered as his mistress; that she had frequently boasted
among her friends that she was to become Lyon's wife, and was even by
some called Mrs. Lyon, to which pleasant designation she made no murmur;
that she had made a common practice of visiting Lyon at his offices in
the Arcade, where she had been treated with considerable deference and
respect by his employees; and that during this period Mrs. Winslow had
made several trips to the West, evidently at Lyon's instigation, and
through his financial aid.

I found also that she was as truly a believer in the farces others of
her profession enacted for her benefit as she was in the mediumistic
power she had persuaded herself that she possessed, and was consequently
a regular attendant at