t soap bubble, which only burst after
many hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds went in lawyers' and
counsels' fees?"

"I suppose a great deal of money was spent on both sides," she replied,
"until that sudden, awful issue--"

"Which settled the dispute effectually," he interrupted with a dry
chuckle. "Of course, it is very doubtful if any reputable solicitor
would have taken up the case. Timothy Beddingfield, the Birmingham
lawyer, is a gentleman who--well--has had some misfortunes, shall we
say? He is still on the rolls, mind you, but I doubt if any case would
have its chances improved by his conducting it. Against that there is
just this to be said, that some of these old peerages have such peculiar
histories, and own such wonderful archives, that a claim is always worth
investigating--you never know what may be the rights of it.

"I believe that, at first, every one laughed over the pretensions of the
Hon. Robert Ingram de Genneville to the joint title and part revenues of
the old barony of Genneville, but, obviously, he _might_ have got his
case. It certainly sounded almost like a fairy-tale, this claim based
upon the supposed validity of an ancient document over 400 years old. It
was _then_ that a mediaeval Lord de Genneville, more endowed with muscle
than common sense, became during his turbulent existence much
embarrassed and hopelessly puzzled through the presentation made to him
by his lady of twin-born sons.

"His embarrassment chiefly arose from the fact that my lady's
attendants, while ministering to the comfort of the mother, had, in a
moment of absent-mindedness, so placed the two infants in their cot that
subsequently no one, not even--perhaps least of all--the mother, could
tell which was the one who had been the first to make his appearance
into this troublesome and puzzling world.

"After many years of cogitation, during which the Lord de Genneville
approached nearer to the grave and his sons to man's estate, he gave up
trying to solve the riddle as to which of the twins should succeed to
his title and revenues; he appealed to his Liege Lord and King--Edward,
fourth of that name--and with the latter's august sanction he drew up a
certain document, wherein he enacted that both his sons should, after
his death, share his titles and goodly revenues, and that the first son
born in wedlock of _either_ father should subsequently be the sole heir.

"In this document was also added that if in future ti