eigh?" asked she, eagerly.

"By Bolton's advice, in the first instance; he wisely taking into
account how rich the family were whose right I was about to question,
and how poor I was. Bolton inclined to a compromise; and, indeed, he
never ceased to press upon me that it would be the fairest and most
generous of all arrangements; but that to effect this, I must not shock
the sensibilities of the Bramleighs by assuming their name,--that to do
so was to declare war at once."

"And yet had you called yourself Bramleigh, you would have warned others
that the right of the Bramleighs to this estate was at least disputed."

Pracontal could scarcely repress a smile at a declaration so manifestly
prompted by selfish considerations; but he made no reply.

"Well, and this compromise, do they agree to it?" asked she, hastily.

"Some weeks ago, I believed it was all concluded; but this very morning
my lawyer's letter tells me that Augustus Bramleigh will not hear of
it, that he is indignant at the very idea, and that the law alone must
decide between us."

"What a scandal!"

"So I thought. Worse, of course, for them, who are in the world, and
well known. I am a nobody."

"A nobody who might be somebody to-morrow," said she, slowly and
deliberately.

"After all, the stage of pretension is anything but pleasant, and I
cannot but regret that we have not come to some arrangement."

"Can _I_ be of use? Could _my_ services be employed to any advantage?"

"At a moment, I cannot answer; but I am very grateful for even the
thought."

"I cannot pretend to any influence with the family. Indeed, none of them
ever liked me; but they might listen to me, and they might also believe
that _my_ interest went with their own. Would you like to meet Augustus
Bramleigh?"

"There is nothing I desire so much."

"I 'll not promise he 'll come; but if he should consent, will you come
here on Tuesday morning--say, at eleven o'clock--and meet him? I know he
's expected at Albano by Sunday, and I 'll have a letter to propose the
meeting, in his hands, on his arrival."

"I have no words to speak my gratitude to you."

CHAPTER XLIII. A SPECIAL MISSION

When a very polite note from Lord Culduff to Mr. Cutbill expressed
the deep regret he felt at not being able to receive that gentleman at
dinner, as an affair of much moment required his immediate presence at
Naples, the noble lord was more correct than it was his usual fate to be
in matt