“Then you are the present baronet?”
The young man nodded.
“And in the event of your death,” I remarked, “to whom do the title and estates revert?”
“I believe to some distant relative,” Sir Eldred replied. “I cannot say definitely, for I have never inquired. I have no first cousins, and I know nothing about any others.”
“That is rather odd,” I observed, “not to know who succeeds you. Now, tell me—of whom does your household at the Caspar Beeches consist?”
“The butler Parry, his wife, who is housekeeper, and four other servants.”
“Have the Parrys been with you long?”
“About four years.”
“Do you like them?”
“Not altogether,” Sir Eldred replied. “Parry is rather fussy and officious, and his wife much too soapy. My father, however, found them honest, and I don’t suppose I could improve on them.”