versation, contributed all that she
knew respecting the whimsical old clergyman who had so carefully
instructed his nephew to consider himself a peer in prospective, and
particularly pointed out that the old gentleman entertained an
irreconcileable hatred of the Marquis of Hastings. It seemed also that
some time after the last earl's death, the Rev. Mr. Hastings had
assumed the title of Earl of Huntingdon, and that a stone pillar had
been erected in front of the parsonage-house at Leke, on which there
was a metal plate bearing a Latin inscription, to the effect that he
was the eleventh Earl of Huntingdon, godson of Theophilus the ninth
earl, and entitled to the earldom by descent.

These reminiscences and suspicions could not have been poured into
more attentive ears. Mr. Bell had long been a student of heraldry, and
saw an opportunity not only of benefiting his friend, but of
signalizing himself. Accordingly he undertook to investigate the
matter, and offered, in the event of failure, to bear the whole of the
attendant expense, simply premising that, if he succeeded, he should
be recouped. On the 1st of July a letter passed between Captain
Hastings and Mr. Bell, which shows the sentiments of both parties. This
is it:--

"MY DEAR BELL,--I will pay you all costs in case you succeed in
proving me the legal heir to the Earldom of Huntingdon. If not, the
risk is your own; and I certainly will not be answerable for any
expense you may incur in the course of the investigation. But I pledge
myself to assist you by letters, and whatever information I can
collect, to the utmost of my power; and remain very sincerely yours,
F. HASTINGS."
"Nugent Bell, Esq."

On the back of this letter Captain Hastings wrote:

"By all that's good, you are mad."

On the 17th of August Mr. Bell sailed for England, and proceeded to
Castle Donnington, where he had a very unsatisfactory interview with a
solicitor named Dalby, who had long been in the employment of the
Hastings family. Bit by bit, however, he picked up information, and
every addition seemed to render the claim of the Enniskillen captain
stronger, until at last Bell drew up a case which met the unqualified
approval of Sir Samuel Romilly, who said, "I do not conceive that it
will be necessary to employ counsel to prepare the petition which is
to be presented to the Prince-Regent. All that