se--no, nor to anything
else.

It was a bitter moment for Lord Blandamer to find such information in
the possession of a younger man; but, if there was more colour in his
face than usual, his self-command stood the test, and he thrust
resentment aside. There was no time to say or do useless things, there
was no time for feeling; all his attention must be concentrated on the
man before him. He stood still, seeming to examine the papers closely,
and, as a matter of fact, he did take note of the name, the place, and
the date, that so many careful searchings had failed ever to find. But
all the while he was resolutely considering the next move, and giving
Westray time to think and feel. When he looked up, their eyes met
again, and this time it was Westray that coloured.

"I suppose you have verified these certificates?" Lord Blandamer asked
very quietly.

"Yes," Westray said, and Lord Blandamer gave them back to him without a
word, and walked slowly away down the gallery.

Westray crushed the papers into his pocket where most of the room was
taken up by the pistol; he was glad to get them out of his sight; he
could not bear to hold them. It was as if a beaten fighter had given up
his sword. With these papers Lord Blandamer seemed to resign into his
adversary's hands everything of which he stood possessed, his lands, his
life, the honour of his house. He made no defence, no denial, no
resistance, least of all any appeal. Westray was left master of the
situation, and must do whatever he thought fit. This fact was clearer
to him now than it had ever been before, the secret was his alone; with
him rested the responsibility of making it public. He stood dumb before
the picture, from which the old lord looked at him with penetrating
eyes. He had nothing to say; he could not go after Lord Blandamer; he
wondered whether this was indeed to be the end of the interview, and
turned sick at the thought of the next step that must be taken.

At the distance of a few yards Lord Blandamer paused, and looked round,
and Westray understood that he was being invited, or commanded, to
follow. They stopped opposite the portrait of a lady, but it was the
frame to which Lord Blandamer called attention by laying his hand on it.

"This was my grandmother," he said; "they were companion pictures. They
are the same size, the moulding on the frame is the same, an interlacing
fillet, and the coat of arms is in the same place. You see