He was, therefore, the
rightful Earl of Ellingham, and as such entitled to the estates. He
proceeded to tell Methley and Woodlesford his adventures.
"He had, he said, never at any time from boyhood been on good terms with
his father: there had always been mutual dislike. As he grew to manhood,
his father had thwarted him in every conceivable way. He himself as a
young man, had developed radical and democratic ideas--this had caused a
further widening of the breach. Eventually he had made up his mind to
clear out of England altogether. He had a modest amount of money of his
own, a few thousands which had been left him by his mother. So he took
this and quietly disappeared.
"According to his own account he became a good deal of a rolling stone,
going to various out-of-the-way parts of the earth, and taking
particular pains, wherever he went, to conceal his identity. He told
these people Methley and Woodlesford, that he had at one time or another
lived and traded in South Africa, India, China, Japan and the Malay
Settlement--finally he had settled down in Australia. He had kept
himself familiar with events at home--knew of his father's death, and he
saw no end of advertisements for himself.
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