, who
was Greta's half-brother."

"An illegitimate son?"

"Not strictly. Lowther married the son's mother," said Mr. Bonnithorne.

"Married her? Then his son was his heir?"

"No."

Hugh Ritson looked perplexed.

"The girl was a Catholic, Lowther a Protestant. A Catholic priest
married them in Ireland. That was not a valid marriage by English law."

Hugh smiled grimly.

"And Lowther had the marriage annulled?"

"He had fallen in love," began Mr. Bonnithorne.

"This time with an heiress?" There was a caustic laugh.

Mr. Bonnithorne nodded. "Greta's mother. So he--"

"Abandoned the first wife," Hugh Ritson interrupted again.

Mr. Bonnithorne shook his head with an innocent expression.

"Wife? Well, he left her."

"You talk of a son. Had they one?"

"They had," said Mr. Bonnithorne, "and when the woman and child ...
disappeared--"

"Exactly," said Hugh Ritson, and he smiled. "What did Lowther then?"

"Married again, and had a daughter--Greta."

"Then why the legacy?"

"Conscience-money," said Mr. Bonnithorne, pursing up his mouth.

Hugh Ritson laughed slightly.

"The sort of fools' pence the Chancellor of the Exchequer receives
labeled 'Income Tax.'"

"Precisely--only Lowther had no address to send it to."

"He had behaved like a scoundrel," said Hugh Ritson.

"True, and he felt remorse. After the second marriage he set people to
find the poor woman and child. They were never found. His last days were
overshadowed by his early fault. I believe he died broken-hearted. In
his will--I drew it for him--he left, as I say, a sum to be paid to this
son of his first wife--when found."

Hugh Ritson laughed half mockingly.

"I thought he was a fool. A scoundrel is generally a fool as well."

"Generally; I've often observed it," said Mr. Bonnithorne.

"What possible interest of anybody's could it be to go hunting for the
son of the fool's deserted wife?"

"The fool," answered Mr. Bonnithorne, "was shrewd enough to make an
interest by ordering that if the son were not found before Greta came of
age, a legacy of double the sum should be paid to an orphanage for
boys."

Hugh Ritson's respect for the dead man's intelligence experienced a
sensible elevation.

"So it is worth a legacy to the family to discover Greta's
half-brother," he said, summing up the situation in an instant. "If
alive--If not, then proof that he is dead."

The two men had walked some distance, and reached the turning of a la