“The marriage certificate of Noah Curtis and Eleanor Carew has been discovered, sir, and if the will of Fownes Carew be authentic, the case, I believe, is clear.”
“What Carews were these?”
“The ancestors of Walter Carew, sir, whose estates now descend to the heirs of the female branch.”
“And Curtis will inherit these?”
The tone in which Dan uttered these words so startled Raper that he suddenly recovered his self-possession, and remembered how unguardedly he had related this mysterious piece of intelligence.
“When was this discovery made?—who chanced to trace this relationship between Curtis and the Carew family?” cried MacNaghten, in intense anxiety.
A signal from Raper suddenly suggested caution and reserve; but Dan, too much excited to attend it, went on:
“Sir, never believe it! It is some infernal scheme concocted between Fagan and the lawyers. They have put forward this wretched old man, half-witted as he is—”
A hand grasped Dan's arm as he said this; he turned, and there stood Curtis beside him!
“I 've heard you both!” said the old man, dryly. “To you, sir,” said he to Raper, “I owe my thanks for a piece of welcome news; to you, MacNaghten, I feel grateful for all your candor!”