have remained so now, had it not been that circumstances have occurred
which warrant my disclosure; indeed, I may say that I have permission
to speak plainly, as you have to repel charges against you which, if
not disproved, may seriously affect your future interests. Know then,
that when you were last at Madeline Hall, I was sent for to draw up
the will of the Honourable Miss Delmar, and I then discovered that the
will which had been made in favour of Lord de Versely, to whom Miss
Delmar had left everything, was by his express desire to be altered in
your favour; and at the same time the secret of your birth was
confided to me. You will see, therefore, that Lord de Versely did not
neglect your interests. The de Versely property he could not leave
you, but he did what he could in your favour. This will was signed,
sealed, and attested, and is now in my possession; and as the old lady
is very shakey, and something approaching to imbecile, I considered
that in a short time I should have to congratulate you upon your
succession to this fine property, which is a clear 8,000 pounds per
annum.

"You must also know, that Colonel Delmar, whom you also met here, and
who accompanied you to Portsmouth, has always hoped that he would be
the heir of the old lady; and, indeed, had you not stepped in, I have
no doubt but eventually such would have been the case. It appears
that he has, by some means, discovered that you have ousted him, and
since you sailed he has returned to Madeline Hall, and has so
unsettled the old lady, by reporting that you are an impostor, and no
relation by blood, that she has given me instructions to make a new
will in his favour. By what means he has prevailed upon her I cannot
tell: the chief support of his assertion rests upon some letters,
which he has either surreptitiously obtained or forged, written by
your mother and addressed to you. Now that your mother has been
supposed to be dead many years I knew well for Lord de Versely told me
so. The old lady has shown me these letters, which certainly appear
authentic; and she says, that if you have deceived her and Lord de
Versely as to your mother's death, you have deceived them in
everything else, and that she does not now believe that you are the
son of her nephew. As I hinted before, the old lady is almost in her
dotage, and cannot well be reasoned with, for she is very pos