The Hidden Hand (novel)

The novel was also serialized in the London Guide to Literature, Science, Art, and General Information simultaneous to its first publication in the New York Ledger.

The Masked Mother takes place in the "hilly districts of North Wales" instead of Virginia, the protagonist is discovered in Dublin rather than New York, and the war segment of the novel is also shifted from Mexico to Crimea.

Some characters retain their original names, including the villain Black Donald, while others are shifted to Irish and Scottish associations.

[8] Major Ira Warfield — A war veteran, bachelor and owner of the Virginia plantation Hurricane Hall.

He goes to New York in search of Capitola after learning about her from Nancy Grewell, the mulatta woman who delivered her and her stillborn brother many years ago.

Warfield adopts Capitola and makes her "'the sole heiress of a fortune--in land, negroes, coal-mines, iron-foundries, railway shares and bank-stock, of a half a million dollars.

'"[8] Colonel Le Noir — The antagonist of The Hidden Hand, plots to have his niece, Capitola, murdered by Black Donald to keep her from inheriting his fortune.