But if Ralph were proved to be the heir this sum would have been his and not the lawyer's, for the money was part of his father's inheritance; therefore it was worth just ten thousand pounds to that lawyer to convince himself and the false lord that Ralph was not the man, and therefore it was that I found him so easy to deal with.
Now after his father was dead the lawyer tried to persuade the son to take no notice of his dying words, and to let the matter rest where it was, seeing that he had nothing to gain and much to lose.

But this he would not consent to, for, as I have said, he was honest, declaring that he could not be easy in his mind till he knew the truth, and that if he did not go to find it out himself he would send others to do so for him.
As the lawyer desired this least of anything, he gave way, and they set out upon their journey--which in those days was a very great journey indeed--arriving at last in safety at our stead in the Transkei; for, whether he liked it or not, his companion--who now was called Lord Glenthirsk--would not be turned aside from the search or suffer him to prosecute it alone.
At length, when all the tale was told, the lawyer looked at me with his sharp eyes and said, through the interpreter: "Vrouw Botmar, you have heard the story, tell us what you know.

Is the young man who lives with you he whom we seek ?" Now I thought for a second, though that second seemed like a year.

All doubt had left me, there was no room for it.

Ralph and no other was the man, and on my answer might hang his future.