say he had sold his soul to Satan! From the day he sailed in the
Ninon he has never written, never attempted any communication with
the woman whose life he had wrecked, except one inquiry at Dieppe,
and that was through Gregorio.'

'What! the valet?'

Yes. I believe I seemed surprised at such a medium being employed,
for Uncle Alwyn explained that the man had got hold of the secret
somehow--servants always know everything--and being a foreigner he
was likely to be able to trace her out.

'I daresay he profited by the knowledge to keep Alwyn in bondage
during the old man's lifetime.'

'I have no doubt of it, and he expected to play the same game with
me. The fellow reminds me, whenever I look at him, of a sort of
incarnate familiar demon. When I asked my uncle whether he could
guess what had become of her, he held up his hands with a hideous
French grimace. I could have taken him by the throat.'

'Nay, one must pity him. The morals of George IV.'s set had been
handed on to him by the General,' said Lady Kirkaldy, rejoicing in
the genuine indignation of the young face, free from all taint of
vice, if somewhat rigid. 'And what now?'

'He assured me that he could make all secure to my father and me, as
if that were the important point; but finally he perceived that we
had no right to stand still without endeavouring to discover whether
there be a nearer heir, and my father made him consent to my making