“He is prepared to do so, if necessary, your lordship, for his mother’s sake alone. He has expressed deep regret at your disappointment, but her honor and purity must be established at all events, whether he wins anything else or not. He will at once take measures to establish the validity of her marriage, that all who formerly knew her may know that no shadow of stain rests upon her character.”
“Who is he? Where has he been all these years? Where is he now?” demanded the marquis, with clouded brow.
He saw the reasonableness of what the young man contemplated, and knew that if those facts were once established there would be no hope left for him.
“Until about seven years ago he resided with his mother in ——, a little town in the southwest of England. After her death, prompted by curiosity, he visited the place where she believed she had been so grossly deceived, and accidentally stumbled upon the evidence with which I have presented you to-day.”
“Then his mother knew nothing of all this?—she believed up to the time of her death that she had forfeited all claim to this property?” Mr. Tressalia inquired, gravely.
“Most assuredly, or she would have returned immediately to her father and vindicated herself, for the sake of her child’s future.”
“Why did he not present himself to his grandfather, then, as soon as he made this discovery?” the marquis inquired, thinking it very strange that he had not done so.
“His first impulse was to do so. But he is very proud—he inherits all the fire and spirit of his race—and, feeling very sore and indignant at the treatment which his mother received from his grandfather, he naturally shrank from him. Moreover, he concluded that his first duty was to find the man who had so wronged him and her, and notify him of the validity of the marriage which he had supposed to be but a sham.”
“Did he succeed?”
“He did not, although he has used every means in his power to discover the man’s place of residence, and whether he was living or dead. He would not now present his claim to this property, but recently learning of the death of his grandfather, he deemed it best to establish his identity and continue his search afterward.”