Woodlesford, that I have no desire
to assume my title nor to require possession of the estates which are
certainly mine. I have lived a free life too long to wish for--what I
should come in for if I established my claim. But I have a right to a
share in the property which I quite willingly resign to my nephew--"
"In plain language," said Mr. Carless, "if you are paid a certain
considerable sum of money, you will vanish again into the obscurity from
whence you came? Am I right in that supposition?"
"I don't like your terminology, Mr. Carless," answered the visitor with a
slight frown. "I have not lived in obscurity, and--"
"If you are what you claim to be, sir, you are Earl of Ellingham," said
Mr. Carless firmly, "and I may as well tell you at once that if you prove
to us that you are, your nephew, who now holds title and estates, will at
once relinquish both. There will be no bargaining. It is all or nothing.
Our client, whom we know as Earl of Ellingham, is not going to traffic.
If you are what you claim to be, you are head of the family and must take
your place."
"We could have told you that once for all, if you had come to us in the
first instance," remarked Mr.
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