Dr. Prescott knew by his tone that his entire thought was for them. “Quite all right at present,” she answered as she sat down in the chair he had pulled out for her with a quaint courtly sort of grace. “Now, tell me,” she entreated, “what is this all about? What happened down on the hill?”
He didn’t answer at once, but sat thinking. Should he tell as much of the story as he knew? Would it help or hinder this woman to know? For a moment he sat appraising her. She looked capable enough, he decided, but then, there was no telling about women. He shook his head and winced, without thinking, at the pain. After all, he decided finally, this pleasant looking woman was Nan’s guardian in the absence of her mother and father. It was only fair that she know everything that he did. Then, too, if things worked out rightly, she would have to be Nan’s sponsor in the whole London business.
Dr. Prescott, though she couldn’t read his thoughts exactly, knew, from her long experience with people, approximately what was going on in his mind. She sat silent while she saw him coming to his decision.
Eventually, he spoke. “You know, of course,” he said, “the story of Mrs. Sherwood’s inheritance?” Dr. Prescott nodded her head. “And why Nancy is here?” he continued.
Dr. Prescott was a little puzzled at this question. “Why—yes,” she agreed slowly, “to see the estate.”
“Yes, in part.” James Blake seemed to be feeling his way along now. “That is the reason that was given, at least, for our anxiety to have her come, that and the fact that we wanted to see her. An old man’s whim, you know, that is what Nan’s mother, bless her heart, thought. But actually, there is more behind this than appears on the surface.
“Old Hugh Blake was more of a power in this section of Scotland than most people of this generation realize,” he went on. “The Blake family, in the beginning of Scotland’s history, was, if you will pardon my saying so, for I, too, am one of his descendants, because of its wealth and intelligence, very close to the royal family. However, the old line gradually died out. This explains how it happened Mrs. Sherwood inherited the estate.
“But in the old days, when the clans hereabouts practically ruled the country, the Blakes of Emberon were frequently called to London to advise the king’s ministers. At such times they were generally rewarded in one way or another. Sometimes it was with land, sometimes with important foreign posts, sometimes with court privileges that were highly prized in those days. Yes, and highly respected,” he added, as the thought of the day’s happenings again crossed his mind.
“So it happened that Hugh Blake the fourth, the original Laird of Emberon—it was he who built this Hall we are sitting in—back in the sixteenth century performed a service to the King that won for him an ambassadorship to France. It was a particularly ticklish post then, for France and Scotland and England were continually having trouble.
“Well, Hugh Blake, he is supposed to have been a very charming young man at the time, gifted and well-educated, became a favorite at the French court, and well-beloved of the French king. So it was, that once, in the tangled history of the time, he succeeded in getting some concessions from the French that were most advantageous to the English.