“The first thing I would suggest, father, is to question Owen, and hear what he knows about the matter,” answered David; “we may then see what letters the poor lady or the vicar have left; they may throw some light on the subject.”
Owen was forthwith called in. He had seldom heard his parents allude to their relatives, but he held an opinion that his father had several, and from the way in which he had heard them spoken of he fancied that they were some great people, but who they were he could not tell. They certainly, however, had never shown any regard for Mr Hartley, or paid him the slightest attention. Owen knew that his mother had relations, and that her father had been in some public office, but had died without leaving her any fortune; his grandmother had also died a year or two after her marriage. This much Owen knew, but that was very little. “Oh yes,” he said, “I remember that her name was Walford.”
“Well, that must have been your grandfather’s name too. Do you know what your mother’s maiden name was?” asked David.
Owen could not tell.
“Perhaps it will be in some of her books,” suggested David. “They sometimes help one in such cases as this.”
“The books, I am afraid, were sold with the other property,” said the farmer.
“Then we must find out who bought them,” remarked David; “perhaps Dobbs of our town did. I saw him at the sale. He is not likely to have disposed of them yet; I will get him to let me look over them.”
David fulfilled his promise. Mr Dobbs allowed him to look over the library of the late Vicar of Fenside, and at length he came to a volume of “Sturm’s Reflections,” on the title page of which was written, in a clear mercantile hand, “Given to Susan Fluke, on her marriage with Henry Walford Esquire, by her loving cousin Simon Fluke.”
David bought the volume and returned with it in triumph. “I have, at all events, found out the maiden name of the boy’s grandmother on his mother’s side, so, if we cannot discover his relatives on one side, we may on the other. We have now got three names—Fluke, Walford, and Hartley. The Hartley side will give us most difficulty, for it is clear that the vicar and his father held no communication for many years with any of the relatives they may have possessed. Fluke, however, is not a common name; we will search among the Flukes and Walfords, and see if any persons or person of those names will acknowledge young Owen. Simon Fluke, Simon Fluke—the London and County Directories may help us; if they cannot, we must advertise. It will be hard if we cannot rake up Simon Fluke or his heirs. To be sure, that book may have been given to his grandmother fifty years ago or more, and Simon Fluke may be dead.”
David carefully locked up the book. “It may tend to prove your relationship with the said Simon Fluke; and who knows that he may be, or may have been, a rich man, and that you may become his heir,” he remarked to Owen.