r; and now I expect I never shall. The friends who brought me up
told me that they believed my father came from England, and had been
connected with some business over here; but what the business was they
did not know, nor why he left it. It is almost impossible to find out
anything more, after this long lapse of time; it is over thirty years
now since my parents died. And, besides, I very much doubt whether
Farquhar was their real name at all."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because the name was carefully erased from the few possessions my poor
father left behind him. So now I have let the matter drop," added Cecil,
with a bitter laugh, "as it is sometimes a mistake to look up
back-numbers in the colonies; they are not invariably pleasant reading."

Here conversation was interrupted by Lady Silverhampton's voice calling
her friends to lunch; and Cecil and Elisabeth had to join the others.

"If any of you are tired of life," said her ladyship, as they sat down,
"I wish you'd try some of this lobster mayonnaise that my new cook has
made, and report on it. To me it looks the most promising prescription
for death by torture."

"O bid me die, and I will dare
E'en mayonnaise for thee,"

exclaimed Lord Bobby, manfully helping himself.

And then the talk flowed on as pleasantly and easily as the river, until
it was time to land again and return to town. But for the rest of the
day, and for many a day afterward, a certain uncomfortable suspicion
haunted Elisabeth, which she could not put away from her, try as she
would; a suspicion that, after all, her throne was not as firmly fixed
as she had hoped and had learned to believe.

CHAPTER XV

LITTLE WILLIE

He that beginneth may not end,
And he that breaketh can not mend.

The summer which brought fame to Elisabeth, brought something better
than fame to Willie Tremaine. All through the winter the child had grown
visibly feebler and frailer, and the warmer weather seemed to bring
additional weakness rather than strength. In vain did Alan try to
persuade himself that Willie was no worse this year than he had been
other years, and that he soon would be all right again. As a matter of
fact, he soon was all right again; but not in the way which his father
meant.

Caleb Bateson's wisdom had been justified. Through his passionate love
for little Willie, Alan had drawn near to the kingdom of God; not as yet
to the extent of formulating any specific