"From the Earl," he said, "for you, sir."
Kenneth took the letter to his own room and opened it with trembling fingers. Then he read as follows:
"EAGLETON CASTLE,
"October 15.
"DEAR SIR,
"The Earl of Derwentwater requests me to state that he has no knowledge whatever of the subject matter of your letter. There will therefore be no necessity for you to call at the Castle. He regrets that you have been so grossly misinformed.
"Yours truly,
"HAROLD MILROY,
"Secretary."
Kenneth Fortescue felt as if he had received a heavy blow. What should be his next step? There seemed no object in remaining at Eagleton any longer. If the Earl flatly denied his claim, all that he could do would be to put the matter at once into Mr. Northcourt's hands.
Accordingly when he reached the railway station, he took a ticket for Sheffield, and arriving there some hours later, he was just in time to catch the old lawyer before he left the office for the night.
They were closeted together for a long time in Mr. Northcourt's private room, and Kenneth gave an account of his visit to the Castle. He told the lawyer of the picture he had seen in the corridor, of his interview with the Earl, and of the convincing proof which he had obtained during that interview, that the Earl was the man mentioned in old Mr. Fortescue's letter, inasmuch as he had noticed that the joint on his right hand was missing, just as Mr. Fortescue had seen and had described.
Then he told Mr. Northcourt how he had written to the Earl, and he showed him the downright denial which the Earl had given in the answer which he had received that morning.
Mr. Northcourt meditated for some time on the case of his client; but the longer he thought of it, the more his legal mind saw great difficulties in the way of substantiating his claim.
There were several questions which would immediately be raised by the other side; questions which, if unanswered, or if answered in an unsatisfactory manner, would most certainly render Mr. Fortescue's claim invalid. Who was his mother—Lord Derwentwater's first wife? They did not even know her name. Where were they married? They had no idea. Were they married at all? They had no proof whatever of the marriage, except the declaration of an old man who was now dead, and who had only stated it on hearsay.
If the marriage had taken place in the neighbourhood of Kimberley, search might have been made for the marriage register; but apparently, according to the letter found in the safe (to which Mr. Northcourt again referred, spreading it out on the table before him), the marriage, if marriage there had been, had taken place before reaching Africa in some place or other where his maternal grandfather had been chaplain; but what that place was, there was nothing in the letter to show, nor probably had old Mr. Fortescue ever known. Altogether it would be a most difficult case to bring forward, and undoubtedly further evidence would have to be obtained before the claim could be satisfactorily substantiated.