“Listen to this: 'Our readers cannot fail to remember a very remarkable suit which lately occupied no small share of public attention, by the efforts of a fraudulent conspiracy to undermine the title of one of the largest landed proprietors in this kingdom. It would appear now that some very important discoveries have been made in America respecting this claim, particulars of which have been already forwarded to England. As the parties who have made these discoveries may soon be expected in this country, it is not impossible that we may soon hear of another action of ejectment, although on very different grounds, and with very different results from the late one.'”
A very few days after this there appeared another and still more remarkable paragraph, copied from the “London Chronicle,” which ran thus:—
“We mentioned a few days back that an estate, the claim to which was the subject of a late most remarkable lawsuit, was likely again to furnish matter for the occupation of the gentlemen of the long robe. There would seem now to be no doubt upon the subject, as one of the most eminent solicitors in this country has received instructions to take the necessary steps preliminary to a new action at law. The newly discovered facts are sufficiently curious to deserve mention. The late Walter Carew, Esq., was reputed to have married a French lady, who, although believed to have been of high and distinguished rank, was no longer traceable to any family, nor indeed to any locality in France» There were many mysterious circumstances attending this alleged union, which made the fact of a marriage very doubtful. Nothing certainly could be discovered amongst Carew's papers, or little to authenticate the circumstances, nor was there a single allusion to be found to it in his handwriting. A singular accident has at length brought this document to light; and although the individual whose fortune it most nearly concerned has ceased to exist,—he died, it is believed, in the affair of the Sections at Paris,—the result will, in all probability, affect the possession of the vast property in question.
“The discovery to which we allude is as follows: A mass of papers and family documents were deposited by the late Duke of Montpensier in the hands of certain bankers in Philadelphia, in whose possession they have remained, undisturbed and unexplored, up to within a few weeks back, when the Duke of Orleans, desiring to know if a particular document that he sought for was amongst the number, addressed himself to the firm for this purpose. Whether success attended the search in question we know not, but it certainly elicited another and most curious discovery: no less than that the late Madame de Carew was a natural daughter of Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the celebrated 'Égalité,' and that her marriage had been the result of a wager lost by the Duke to Carew. We are not at liberty to divulge any more of the singular circumstances of this strange compact, though we may add, what in the present is the more important element of the case, no less than this marriage certificate of Walter Carew and Josephine de Courtois, forwarded to the Duke in a letter from the Duchesse de Sargance, who had accompanied them.
“The letter of the Duchess herself is not one of the least singular parts of this most strange history, since it mentions the marriage in a style of apology, and consoles the Duke for the mésalliance by the assurance that, probably, in the obscurity of Ireland, they will never more be heard of.
“Amongst the strange coincidences of this strange event, another still remains to be told. It was in the hands of the firm of Rogers and Raper that these documents were deposited, and Mr. Raper himself has passed half a lifetime in the vain search for the very piece of evidence which mere chance has thus presented to him.
“That Gervois, the celebrated impostor in this case, must have, by some means or other, obtained an insight into the strange circumstances of this story, is quite evident, and we understand that the order for his departure has been countermanded till he be interrogated as to the amount of his knowledge, and the sources from which he derived it. Mr. Raper and the Countess of Gabriac, an Irishwoman by birth, are expected daily to arrive in this country, and we may look forward to their coming for the elucidation of one of the most curious stories in our domestic annals.
“There is a story current that Lady Hester Stanhope remembers, some years back, a young man having presented himself to Mr. Pitt as the son of the late Walter Carew, and shown certain papers to authenticate his claim; and as the occurrence took place subsequent to the year '95, it is evident that if his pretensions were well founded, there could be no truth in the account of his having fallen in the 'Battle of the Sections.'”
I have no heart to speak of how these passages affected me. To hear that my dear mother and Raper still lived; that they not only remembered me, but that their deep devotion to my cause still animated them,—was too much to bear! Bruised, and shattered, and broken down by fortune, this proof of affection kindled the almost dead embers of feeling within me, and I fell upon my knees in thankful prayer to Heaven that I was not deserted nor forgotten! It was no longer rank, and wealth, and riches that glittered before me. I sought for no splendors of fortune or high estate. All that I asked, all that I prayed for, was an honorable name before man, and that love which should once more reconcile me to myself,—lift me from the lonely depths of my isolation, and make a home for me with those to whom I was dear.
“On deck, Gervois,” said the turnkey, arousing me from a deep revery a few days after this interview; “on deck—here are some strangers want to have a look at ye.”