has never been cleared
up; the breach which separated him from these Daltons was
then at its widest. Dalton's character you are familiar
with; and, although abroad at that time, who can say what
agencies may not have worked for him? Give your serious
consideration to these facts, and tell me what you think.
You know me too well and too long to suppose that I am
actuated by motives of mere curiosity, or simply the desire
to trace the history of a crime. I own to you, that with all
my horror of blood, I scarcely grieve as I witness the
fruitless attempts of English justice to search out the
story of a murder. I feel a sort of satisfaction at the
combat between Saxon dulness and Celtic craft--between the
brute force of the conqueror and the subtle intelligence of
the conquered--that tells me of a time to come when these
relations shall be reversed. Acquit me, therefore, of any
undue zeal for the observance of laws that only remind me of
our slavery. However clear and limpid the stream may look, I
never forget that its source was in foulness! I am impelled
here by a force that my reason cannot account for. My
boyhood was, in some manner, bound up with this Godfrey's
fate. I was fatherless when he died! could he have been my
father? This thought continually recurs to me! Such a
discovery would be of great value to me just now; the
question of legitimacy would be easily got over, as I seek
for none of the benefits of succession. I only want what
will satisfy the Sacred College. My dear Michel, I commit
all this to your care and industry; give me your aid and
your advice. Should it happen that Dalton was involved in
the affair, the secret might have its value. This old field-
marshal's pride of name and family could be turned to good
account.

"I must tell you that since I have overheard this boy's
ravings, I have studiously avoided introducing my Irish
_protege_ into the sickroom. My friend, Paul Meekins, might
be a most inconvenient confidant, and so I shall keep him
under my own eye till some opportunity occurs to dispose of
him. He tells me that his present tastes are all
ecclesiastical. Do you want a sacristan? if so, he would
be your man. There is no such trusty subordinate as the
fellow with what the French call 'a da