“Am I lowly or highly born?” he thought.

He felt that he must have sprung from a superior stock.

Yes; but how?

Was he entitled to any great estates in his own right?

He felt that there was some dark, deep mystery hanging over him.

He would have given the whole world to unravel it.

But he could not.

Sir Richard’s manner had always been very kind, good, and fatherly.

But still with all that it was strange.

His manner, it might be said, was like that of a man who knew some grand secret, and yet would not reveal it!