Flora, sure that she should hear all that had transpired from Mark, kept her room on the plea of indisposition--a just one; for she, too, was feverish, excited, and certainly indisposed to meet Lester Vane, and to bevexed by his incessant stare and his unpleasing attention. Old Wilton, on reaching Harleydale, again missed the face of his little pet-nurse. His house seemed a desert without her. His room seemed gloomy without the sunshine of her eyes or the music of her voice. He said nothing, but he speculated upon her condition. “She is a young lady in reduced circumstances,” he thought. “I will make this a home for her. Flora will be married and away from me. Mark, among the splendid beauties of an elevated circle, will soon forget the artful sempstress who inveigled herself into his affections--he does not speak of her now, a good sign. He will marry, and have an establishment of his own. Then, then, I will place my little pet to preside over my household; I shall have all my wishes consulted, and all my requirements attended to. I will make an excuse to go to London. Flora knows her address, and I will go to her, and make short work of it. I am weary of this loneliness.” He, however, wanted not an excuse to go to London. He was electrified by receiving a letter from his solicitor, who informed him that he had been served with a notice from a new claimant to the estates of the late Eglinton, and who was at once about to prosecute his claim, He advanced his title as a lineal descendant from an elder branch of the family, and, upon referring to the genealogical tree, the solicitor said he feared his claim was only too well founded. He, however, begged Mr. Wilton to come to London at once, and confer with him upon the course to be adopted in this singular and unexpected turn of affairs. Wilton read and re-read this letter a dozen times. What! was the cup of grandeur to be dashed from his mouth while yet sparkling and bubbling on his lips. New claimant of an elder branch of the family! the very notion made him perspire; for he had at once a dim remembrance that Nathan Gomer had mentioned that fact, but had suggested that the descent was broken, or had disappeared, he could not now recollect, beyond that his singular little friend had assured him there was no occasion to fear any interposition from that quarter. Yet here it was. Upon an impulse, he swallowed humble pie, and wrote off to Nathan Gomer, asking him to come down at once to Harleydale, for he much needed the services of his well-tried and proved friend once more. His letter was returned to him unopened. What did this mean? Who, after all, could Nathan Gomer be? Another letter arrived from his solicitor, more urgent than before, calling for his immediate presence in London, and he had no alternative but to comply with its appeal.