“Sir Edgar’s father, Sir William Douglas, and her grandfather, James Douglas, were brothers, each of whom had but one child, a son, and they in turn had only one child, one a son, the other a daughter. Sir Edgar’s son, as you are aware, died only a few days previous to his father, and that leaves this lady the sole surviving relative. Her own parents died, one just before her birth, the other just after, leaving her to the care of a maiden aunt, Miss Mehetabel Douglas, who left this country many years ago, and settled in Philadelphia, United States.” “Sir! What!” demanded his lordship, to whom this news was like a thunderbolt, which opened the old wound afresh. “Yes, her own name was Mehetabel Douglas until her marriage; she was named for her aunt. My lord, you are ill!” said the lawyer, startled to see him grow so white, while his hand shook so that the paper he held rattled. “No, no; go on. Then you say they are all dead, excepting this young lady?” he cried, trying with a mighty effort to steady his nerves. “Yes, Miss Mehetabel, the elder, died less than a year ago, the young woman tells me. They were supposed to be very wealthy at her death, but a series of misfortunes deprived them of everything, and this young lady obtained a situation as governess in a family that was coming abroad. Strange, isn’t it, how things work around, and that she should come here to walk right into this fortune?” It was passing strange, his lordship acknowledged; and this beautiful young girl was the niece of his lost love, and her adopted child, doubtless. He wished he had known of this before she left; he would have requested an introduction, and by that means he would have learned all about his lost one’s life. As it was, he resolved to seek her out at his earliest convenience, and learn more of her and her antecedents. Then there suddenly arose a thought which troubled him. If this young lady was Miss Mehetabel’s only living relative, how came Miss Isabel Coolidge by those jewels? Could it be that the poor child had been reduced to the necessity of selling them? It did not yet occur to him that she was the poor, discarded governess of whom Adrian had told him. But no, he could not believe that a Douglas would be guilty of parting with precious heirlooms for filthy lucre no matter how destitute she might become. “You say the young lady is lately married,” he said, resuming his conversation with the lawyer, and determined to learn all he could. “Yes, I think it is not more than two or three weeks since the event occurred.” Lord Dunforth did start now, remembering that that was about the time of Adrian’s marriage. Still the truth did not enter his mind, as his next words proved. “You say she was a governess previous. Whom did she marry? I trust she has not made a _mésalliance_; the Douglases are remarkably good stock. I used to know the family intimately,” he concluded, with a troubled brow.