solute certainty, before night. If the next few hours did not put me
in a position to justify his worst fears, and to hold him helpless at
my mercy, I might lose every inch of the ground I had gained, never to
recover it again. The unscrupulous nature of the man, the local
influence he possessed, the desperate peril of exposure with which my
blindfold inquiries threatened him--all warned me to press on to
positive discovery, without the useless waste of a single minute. I
had found time to think while I was waiting for Mr. Dawson's arrival,
and I had well employed it. Certain portions of the conversation of the
talkative old clerk, which had wearied me at the time, now recurred to
my memory with a new significance, and a suspicion crossed my mind
darkly which had not occurred to me while I was in the vestry. On my
way to Knowlesbury, I had only proposed to apply to Mr. Wansborough for
information on the subject of Sir Percival's mother. My object now was
to examine the duplicate register of Old Welmingham Church.

Mr. Wansborough was in his office when I inquired for him.

He was a jovial, red-faced, easy-looking man--more like a country
squire than a lawyer--and he seemed to be both surprised and amused by
my application. He had heard of his father's copy of the register, but
had not even seen it himself. It had never been inquired after, and it
was no doubt in the strong room among other papers that had not been
disturbed since his father's death. It was a pity (Mr. Wansborough
said) that the old gentleman was not alive to hear his precious copy
asked for at last. He would have ridden his favourite hobby harder than
ever now. How had I come to hear of the copy? was it through anybody
in the town?

I parried the question as well as I could. It was impossible at this
stage of the investigation to be too cautious, and it was just as well
not to let Mr. Wansborough know prematurely that I had already examined
the original register. I described myself, therefore, as pursuing a
family inquiry, to the object of which every possible saving of time
was of great importance. I was anxious to send certain particulars to
London by that day's post, and one look at the duplicate register
(paying, of course, the necessary fees) might supply what I required,
and save me a further journey to Old Welmingham. I added that, in the
event of my subsequently requiring a copy of the original register, I
should make application