“Dear papa, first of all, will you please to tell me how much you learned of Kightly Montgomery’s true history when you undertook to investigate the antecedents of the young officer who had run off with your daughter?”
“Yes, my dear. There was no mystery about him. I went to the colonel of his regiment, and learned that he was the son of the late General the Honorable Arthur Montgomery, who was so distinguished in the Indian war, the grandson of the late and the nephew of the present Earl of Engelmeed, and a disgrace to his ancestry and relatives; and that he had held a commission in the—Regiment of Foot, but had been court-martialed and dismissed the service for ‘conduct unworthy of an officer and a gentleman.’”
“And you are sure that he is really Kightly Montgomery—that that is his real name?”
“As sure as that James Campbell is my own,” said the curate. “And now, will you tell me what name he passed under in America, and why he dropped his own?”
“Yes, papa; the name under which he passed in New York; the name under which he claims the richest estate in Yorkshire; the name under which he married Miss Lamia Leegh, of New York; the name under which he sailed in the Scorpio for Liverpool, is——”
“Yes? Well?”
“Mr. Randolph Hay, of Haymore!”
“Great Heaven, Jennie!”
“Good Lord, Jennie!”
These exclamations burst simultaneously from the lips of Jimmy and Hetty.