He may not have had the slightest intention, for
instance, of setting up a claim to the title and estates."
"I don't understand much about the legal aspect of this," said Viner,
"but I've been wondering about it while you and the landlady talked.
Supposing Ashton to be the long-lost Lord Marketstoke--could he have
established a claim such as you speak of?"
"To be sure!" answered Mr. Pawle. "Had he been able to prove that he was
the real Simon pure, he would have stepped into title and estates at
once. Didn't the old lady say that the seventh Earl died intestate? Very
well--the holders since his time, that is to say, Charles, who, his
brother's death being presumed, became eighth Earl, and his son, the
present holder, would have had to account for everything since the day
of the seventh Earl's death. When the seventh Earl died, his elder son,
Lord Marketstoke, _ipso facto_, stepped into his shoes, and if he were,
or is, still alive, he's in them still. All he had to do, at any moment,
after his father's death, no matter who had come into title and estates,
was to step forward and say: 'Here I am!--now I want my rights!'"
"A queer business altogether!" commented Viner.
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