“And he is very fond of you,” persevered Everage.
“Yes,” answered Alick in a very low tone.
“Your nephew, of course?” inquired Everage, after a little hesitation, hoping that, after all, such might be the relationship of the baby to the man.
“No, he is not my nephew. I have not, nor ever had, sister or brother to give me niece or nephew. I am a lonely man, Everage.”
“Ah!” sighed the other, with a look of sympathy—but he thought in his heart, “So much the better!”
“But—he is my son, Everage!” said Alick, with emotion.
“Your son?” exclaimed the would-be heir of the barony.
It was what he had at first suspected, even when he thought Lord Killcrichtoun was unmarried; but yet he was ill-at-ease, and, out of his anxiety, burst this exclamation:
“I did not know that you had a wife.”
“Nor have I! nor can I ever have—that is the curse of my life! But I had one once. The subject is a painful one, Everage!”