CHAPTER III.
THE RUINED HEIR.
Where, meanwhile, was the "mad" duke with his loyal son?
Various reports had been circulated concerning them, so long as they had been remembered.

Some had said that they had emigrated to Australia; others that they had gone to Canada; others again that they were living on the Continent.

All agreed that wherever they were, they must be in great destitution.
But now, three years had passed since the fall of Lone and the disappearance of the ruined ducal family, and they were very nearly forgotten.
Meanwhile where were they then?
They were hidden in the great wilderness of London.
On leaving Lone, the stricken duke, crushed equally under domestic affliction and financial ruin, and failing both in mind and body, started for London, tenderly escorted by his son.
It was the last extravagance of the young marquis to engage a whole compartment in a first-class carriage on the Great Northern Railway train, that the fallen and humbled duke might travel comfortably and privately without being subjected to annoyance by the gaze of the curious, or comments of the thoughtless.
On reaching London they went first to an obscure but respectable inn in a borough, where they remained unknown for a few days, while the marquis sought for lodgings which should combine privacy, decency and cheapness, in some densely-populated, unfashionable quarter of the city, where their identity would be lost in the crowd, and where they would never by any chance meet any one whom they had ever met before.
They found such a refuge at length, in a lodging-house kept by the widow of a curate in Catharine street, Strand.
Here the ruined duke and marquis dropped their titles, and lived only under their baptismal name and family names.
Here Archibald-Alexander-John Scott, Duke of Hereward and Marquis of Arondelle in the Peerage of England, and Baron Lone, of Lone, in the Peerage of Scotland, was known only as old Mr.Scott.
And his son Archibald-Alexander-John Scott, by courtesy Marquis of Arondelle, was known only as young Mr.John Scott.
Now as there were probably some thousands of "Scotts," and among them, some hundreds of "John Scotts," in all ranks of life, from the old landed proprietor with his town-house in Belgravia, to the poor coster-monger with his donkey-cart in Covent Garden, in this great city of London, there was little danger that the real rank of these ruined noblemen should be suspected, and no possibility that they should be recognized and identified.

They were as completely lost to their old world as though they had been hidden in the Australian bush or New Zealand forests.
Here as Mr.Scott and Mr.John Scott, they lived three years.
The old duke, overwhelmed by his family calamity, gradually sank deeper and deeper into mental and bodily imbecility.
Here the young marquis picked up a scanty living for himself and father by contributing short articles to the columns of the _National Liberator_, the great organ of the Reform Party.
He wrote under the name of "Justus." After a few months his articles began to attract attention for their originality of thought, boldness of utterance, and brilliancy of style.
Much speculation was on foot in political and journalistic circles as to the author of the articles signed "Justus." But his incognito was respected.
At length on a notable occasion, the gifted young journalist was requested by the publisher of the _National Liberator_, to write a leader on a certain Reform Bill then up before the House of Commons.
This work was so congenial to the principles and sentiments of the author, that it became a labor of love, and was performed, as all such labors should be, with all the strength of his intellect and affections.
This leader made the anonymous writer famous in a day.

He at once became the theme of all the political and newspaper clubs.
And now a grand honor came to him.
The Premier--no less a person--sent his private secretary to the office of the _National Liberator_ to inquire the name and address of the author of the articles by "Justus," with a request to be informed of them if there should be no objection on the part of author or publisher.
The private secretary was told, with the consent of the author, what the name and address was.
"Mr.John Scott, office of the _National Liberator_." Upon receiving this information, the Premier addressed a note to the young journalist, speaking in high terms of his leader on the Reform Bill, predicting for him a brilliant career, and requesting the writer to call on the minister at noon the following day.
The young marquis was quite as much pleased at this distinguished recognition of his genius as any other aspiring young journalist might have been.
He wrote and accepted the invitation.
And at the appointed hour the next day he presented himself at Elmhurst House, the Premier's residence at Kensington.
He sent up his card, bearing the plain name: "Mr.John Scott." He was promptly shown up stairs to a handsome library, where he found the great statesman among his books and papers.
His lordship arose and received his visitor with much cordiality, and invited him to be seated.
And during the interview that followed it would have been difficult to decide who was the best pleased--the great minister with this young disciple of his school, or the new journalist with this illustrious head of his party.
This agreeable meeting was succeeded by others.
At length the young journalist was invited to a sort of semi-political dinner at Elmhurst House, to meet certain eminent members of the reform party.
This invitation pleased the marquis.