in infancy. The lady seems to have given cause for
a certain amount of scandal, for her Latin temperament and lively
ways did not commend themselves to the rather austere and religious
circle in which her husband and his relations moved.

"She visited Italy sometimes and Joseph Pendean undoubtedly
regretted his marriage. He might have divorced her in the opinion of
some with whom I spoke; but for the sake of his son he would not
take this step. Michael was devoted to his mother and accompanied
her frequently to Italy. On one of these occasions, when a boy of
seventeen or eighteen, he met with an accident to his head; but I
could glean no particulars of its nature. He seems to have been a
silent and observant lad and never quarrelled with his father.

"When at last Mrs. Pendean died in Italy, her husband attended the
funeral at Naples and returned to England immediately afterward with
his son. The boy was subsequently apprenticed to a dentist, having
expressed a wish to follow that profession. He promised well, passed
his examinations and practised at Penzance for a time. But then he
ceased to be interested in the work and presently joined his
father. In connection with the pilchard trade, he now visited Italy
and often spent a month at a time in that country.

"Few could give me any information as to his nature, and pictures of
him did not apparently exist; but an elderly relative was able to
tell me that Michael had been a silent, difficult boy. She also
showed me an old photograph of his parents, taken together with
their son when he must have been a child of three, or thereabout.
His father didn't suggest a man of character; but Mrs. Pendean
appeared to be a very handsome creature indeed, and it was at the
moment I studied her features through a magnifying glass that I won
my first conviction of a familiar likeness.

"It is a rule with me, when any sudden flash of intuition throws
real or false light upon a case, to submit the inspiration to a most
searching and destructive analysis and bring every known fact
against it. Thus, on seeing a possible glimpse of Giuseppe Doria's
beautiful countenance reflected upon my eyes from the photograph of
the mother of Michael Pendean, I began to marshal all my knowledge
to confound any deduction from that accident. But judge of my
interest and surprise when I found nothing that could be pointed to
as absolute refutation of the theory now taking such swift shape in
my mind.