“‘Oh, merciful Providence, he must be my own boy! I should know him even now, he cannot be so changed,’ she exclaimed.
“I told her, though I did not wish to raise her hopes to disappoint them, that I felt sure she was right. But then I suggested that though she might be confident that Harry Saint George was her son, it might be very difficult to prove it so as to enable him to obtain his rights.
“‘If we could prove that Miss Stafford went to Ryde with her nephew, it would greatly assist the case,’ I observed.
“‘I will look over all her letters to me, and see if she ever mentioned that she thought of so doing,’ she said. ‘I have some also which my husband wrote to her during their mother’s illness, and he may possibly have expressed a wish to see her and our boy. But surely, even should I not discover anything of the sort, Sir Mostyn Stafford will be convinced that my son is his nephew, and would not refuse to acknowledge him.’
“About that, I said, I could not be sure; but I advised her not on any account to let Mr Biddulph Stafford know that she had gained tidings of her son, lest he might influence Sir Mostyn. I told her that I was sure my brother-in-law, Mr Pengelley, would, with the evidence she was able to bring forward, undertake her case; and I offered, should Harry Saint George be in England, to go to Ryde and bring him back with me.
“‘I am indeed most grateful,’ she answered. ‘I must not leave my poor father, or I would go myself to see my son, for that he is my boy I have not a doubt on my mind.’
“Just as I was about to leave the room, my eye fell on a small portrait of a lady hanging against the wall, and it occurred to me that it might be that of Miss Stafford. I asked the question. Mrs Stafford said it was; and I proposed taking it with me to know whether you and your wife could recognise it, and perhaps others might be found who may have seen her on board the Royal George to do so likewise.
“She at once took down the portrait, which with that of her son she carefully packed up and entrusted to my care. After again cautioning her against Mr Biddulph Stafford, I wished her good-bye, and returned with the information I had gained to my worthy brother-in-law, who, on hearing it, said that he was convinced in his own mind that Harry Saint George was the son of Henry Stafford, and that he would undertake his case, though he advised me to caution you and him not to be too sanguine about gaining it; at the same time you might be sure that Mrs Stafford would acknowledge him, and that he would thus, which he would probably value more than fortune, be able in the eyes of his friends to establish his right to bear his father’s name.
“Mr Pengelley hopes that you will on no account let anyone learn the history I have now given you till everything is prepared. Should Biddulph Stafford bear that young Harry is discovered, he will stir heaven and earth to prevent him from establishing his rights. I might, as I before said, by threatening to expose the crime of his early days, gain a power over him; but as it occurred so long ago, he might feel himself safe and set me at defiance. At all events be cautious, and let no one but Harry and your wife, who, from what I saw of her, is, I should judge, a discreet woman, know anything of the matter.”
This letter, as may be supposed, threw Susan and me into a great state of agitation. We could talk of nothing else, and kept looking out every moment for Jerry’s arrival; we could not help grieving that Harry was not at home, for we could take no steps without him. We were sorry, too, that we could not consult with Captain Leslie, as Jerry had forbidden us to speak to anyone on the subject. He, I was sure, could be trusted, though he had been so much offended with Harry for venturing to look up to Miss Fanny; but the state of the case was now greatly altered; and should Harry be able to prove that he was heir to Sir Mostyn Stafford, instead of being without name or family, I knew of course that the captain would no longer think of forbidding him to marry his daughter.