"Hush, my lord. You forget that you are a British peer. No spread-eagle for you."
Lord Davenant sighed.
"It is difficult," he said, "and I suppose there's no more loyal citizens than us of Canaan City."
"Well, how are we to connect the wheelwright Timothy with the Honorable Timothy who was supposed to be drowned?"
"There is his age, and there is his name. You've got those, Mr. Goslett. And then, as we agreed before, we will agree to that little admission."
"But if everybody does not agree?"
"There is also the fact that we were always supposed to be heirs to something in the old country."
"I am afraid that is not enough. There is this great difficulty: Why should a young Englishman, the heir to a title and a great property, settle down in America and practise a handicraft?"
"Wal, sir, I can't rightly say. My grandfather carried that secret with him. And if you'll oblige me, sir, you'll tell her ladyship that we're agreed upon that little admission which makes the connection complete. It will be time enough to undeceive her when the trouble begins. As for Aurelia Tucker, why——" here he smiled sweetly. "If I know Clara Martha aright, she is quite able to tackle Aurelia by herself."
This was the way in which the conduct of the Great Davenant Case fell into the hands of a mere working-man.