"I believe I told you that, for a little while to come, I thought it would be advisable to remain quiescent in the affair while awaiting the first move on the part of Mrs. Bullivant's solicitors, provided they thought it advisable to move at all. Well, a couple of days ago I was waited upon by Mr. Cotwell, the junior partner in a firm of Lanchester lawyers. He met me in a by no means hostile spirit, the main object of his visit being to obtain my permission to put to Tew the very question I had put to him already. Of course Tew could only give Mr. Cotwell the same answer that he had given me, and, so far as Mrs. Bullivant was concerned, there was no satisfaction to be got out of that. "Cotwell and I had a long confabulation before he left. From certain hints he let fall, I judge that Mrs. B. has not scrupled to give expression to her belief that she was designedly tricked by Mr. C.--that of set purpose he caused the signed will to be burnt and left the unsigned one in existence; all which is an absolute contradiction of what Tew is prepared to swear to. But what strange beliefs will not a disappointed woman cherish, more especially when she sees cause for imagining that she has been hoodwinked into the bargain! "After all, it seems to be very doubtful whether Mrs. B. will go to law. In my opinion it would be sheer madness on her part to do so, and I have very little doubt that, privately, Cotwell thinks the same, only, of course, he is bound to bark at the bidding of his client; but when it comes to biting--we shall see. "At any rate, I shall wait no longer, but at once proceed to take the necessary steps for legalizing the rights of the youthful heir, as if no such person as Mrs. B. were in existence. "Will you be good enough to inform me at your convenience under whose care the child is now living, and where he may be found, provided, of course, that his present address is known to you?" Nell's reply was sent by the next post. It was on a Friday morning that Mr. Piljoy's letter came to hand, and had she not been suffering from a cold which had reduced her voice to a mere whisper, she would have set out for London within a few hours of her receipt of it. But, although she was hungering to see the child, a delay of a few days would not matter greatly, and doubtless she would be well enough to travel (it was a matter of between two hundred and fifty and three hundred miles, and all by coach) by the following Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Tuesday morning came, and found Nell's few preparations made. Her impatience would brook no further delay. Places for herself and her maid had been secured in the London coach, which passed through Tuxford shortly after midday. But a surprise was in store for her. [Illustration: "Evan has been missing since yesterday."]