"Why did you pause?" asked the Dutchman.
"'Twas a thought I had, Mynheer. It may be vain. Before I say more, will you look at the next paper?"
"Hé!" exclaimed Madame de Vaudrey, "I am becoming curious."
Mynheer Grootz with the same imperturbable calm unfolded the next paper of the bundle.
"This," he said, scanning it over his spectacles, "is not a letter; it is a document. It records the marriage, in the Huguenot church in Paris, on May 2, 1658, of Louis Marie Honoré, Comte de Vaudrey, aged 34, with Mary Berkeley,"—he pronounced the name in three syllables, foreign fashion—"aged 22, daughter of John Berkeley Esquire of Winton Hall, in the county of Wiltshire, England."
"'Tis found!" cried Harry, springing up in excitement. "We call the name Barkley in England; Madame, Monsieur le Comte was the son of Mr. Berkeley's sister; he is the squire of my own village Winton St. Mary; without a doubt it is his estates to which Mademoiselle is heiress. What a discovery we have made!"
"Stay, Harry," said Mynheer Grootz quietly; "did you not tell me that your squire has a son?"
"Yes, yes, but now I remember: at home I have heard it said that Mr. Berkeley was lord of the manor only by default of other heirs: yes, it comes back to me now: the villagers did not like him; they grudged him his estate; he was stepson of the former squire, and step-brother of the lady who became Comtesse de Vaudrey."
"Still I do not understand. The lady had a brother—the gentleman whose name was Eustace; being employed in state business, to do with the restoration of your King Charles, I think, he was doubtless the elder of the two: he would be his father's heir, and his children after him. The letter, you see, announces his approaching marriage."
"You are right, Mynheer. I heard him talked of, too; he was killed in a fray with highwaymen on the Dover road, when he was returning from France, after King Charles came back, to claim his estates. Yes, the squire's family history is well known in the village; but I never heard of a Mistress Eustace Berkeley; perhaps the marriage did not take place after all."