ne
which led to a house that could be seen among the trees at the foot of a
ghyll. The younger man drew up on his infirm foot.

"But I fail to catch the relevance of all this. When I mentioned that I
was a second son you--"

"I have had hardly any data to help me in my search," Mr. Bonnithorne
continued. He was walking on. "Only a medallion-portrait of the first
wife." Mr. Bonnithorne dived into a breast-pocket.

"My brother Paul is living. What possible--"

"Here it is," said Mr. Bonnithorne, and he held out a small picture.

Hugh Ritson took it with little interest.

"This is the portrait of the nun," he said, as his eyes first fell on
it, and recognized the coif and cape.

"A novice--that's what she was when Lowther met her," said Mr.
Bonnithorne.

Then Hugh Ritson stopped. He regarded the portrait attentively; looked
up at the lawyer and back at the medallion. For an instant the strong
calm which he had hitherto shown seemed to desert him. The picture
trembled in his hand. Mr. Bonnithorne did not appear to see his
agitation.

"Is it a fancy? Surely it must be fancy!" he muttered.

Then he asked aloud what the nun's name had been.

"Ormerod."

There was a start of recovered consciousness.

"Ormerod--that's strange!"

The exclamation seemed to escape inadvertently.

"Why strange?"

Hugh Ritson did not answer immediately.

"Her Christian name?"

"Grace."

"Grace Ormerod? Why, you must know that Grace Ormerod happened to be my
own mother's maiden name!"

"You seem to recognize the portrait."

Hugh Ritson had regained his self-possession. He assumed an air of
indifference.

"Well, yes--no, of course not--no," he said, emphatically, at last.

In his heart there was another answer. He thought for the moment when he
set eyes on the picture that it looked like--a little like--his own
mother's face.

They walked on. Mr. Bonnithorne's constant smile parted his lips.
Lifting his voice rather unnecessarily, he said:

"By the way, another odd coincidence! Would you like to know the name of
Grace Ormerod's child by Robert Lowther?"

Hugh Ritson's heart leaped within him, but he preserved an outward show
of indifference, and drawled:

"Well, what was it?"

"Paul."

The name went through him like an arrow, then he said, rather languidly:

"So the half-brother of Greta Lowther, wherever he is, is named--"

"Paul Lowther," said Mr. Bonnithorne. "But," he added, with a quick
glance, "he may--