"What girl?" Slyne demanded irritably.
"The late Earl of Jura's daughter. You'll no doubt remember—But if you've been abroad for so long, I'd better repeat—" And, having got over his nervous prolixity, he became much more explicit.
"The late earl's first wife, as you must recall, sir, was Lady Eulalie Orlebarre. But she did not survive the birth of their only child, a son, in 1876.
"The earl married again, in '94. His second wife was Josceline Beljambes, the famous dancer. A daughter was born to them. But they separated, by mutual agreement, only a year or two later, and the countess retained custody of her daughter. The earl was a good deal older than she.
"She was a very restless, erratic woman, and fond of travel. In '99 she disappeared most mysteriously, somewhere abroad, and has never been heard of since.
"The following year, Lord St. Just, the earl's son by his first wife and, of course, his heir, was found dead one day at the foot of the cliffs near Loquhariot, the family seat in Scotland. He had grown up a very headstrong, troublesome lad, I have heard. There was some suspicion of foul play on the part of one of the gamekeepers on the estate—some scandalous story about a girl in the village—but the coroner's jury returned an open verdict.
"The earl himself died in 1906, a little more than five years ago. The estates fell into Chancery. And ever since I've been trying to trace his second wife—or their child; for, failing an heir-male, the female line of succession maintains in the family.
"The Court of Chancery is quite prepared to presume the mother dead, and I have evidence sufficient to prove that assumption a certainty. So that now, you see, if I could only find—"
He hesitated, to scrutinise his companion's inscrutable face.
"I was a consummate fool, of course, ever to have come to Monte Carlo," he went off at a tangent. "Though I had a good enough reason for coming," he went on, defending himself to himself. "I didn't dare trust anyone in London. And I—I thought that I might find here—" He balked again.