d on the death of a distant relative become a very rich man. This
fact had doubtless increased his interest in Springfield, and perhaps had
lessened his annoyance at the fact that Lorna had failed to fall in with
his previous wishes concerning her.

'Remarkably clever fellow.' he confided in me; 'the kind of man who makes
an impression wherever he goes. When I saw him at St. Mabyn's more than
a year ago, I did not like him so much, but he grows on one.'

'By the way, what peerage is he heir to?' I asked. 'I never heard of it
until yesterday.'

'Oh, he'll come into Lord Carbis's title and estates.'

'Carbis? Then it's not an old affair?'

'Oh no,--the present Lord Carbis was created a peer in 1890.'

'A brewer, isn't he?' I asked.

'Yes,' and I thought Sir Thomas looked somewhat uneasy. 'Of course there
are very few old peerages now,' he went on; 'the old families have a way
of dying out, somehow. But Carbis is one of the richest men in the
country. I suppose he paid nearly a million for the Carbis estates.
Carbis Castle is almost medieval, I suppose, and the oldest part of the
building was commenced I don't know how many hundreds of years ago. Oh,
Springfield will be in a magnificent position when the present Lord
Carbis dies.'

'Beer seems a very profitable thing,' I could not help laughing.

'Personally I have no prejudice against these beer peerages,' replied Sir
Thomas somewhat warmly. 'Of course I would prefer a more ancient
creation, but these are democratic days. If a man creates a great
fortune by serving the State, why shouldn't he be honoured? When you
come to think about it, I suppose the brewing class has provided more
peerages than any other during the last fifty years. Come now,
Luscombe,' and Sir Thomas looked at me almost angrily.

Just before Colonel McClure left, he drew me aside, and asked me if I had
spoken to Springfield, and on my describing our conversation, he looked
very grave.

'I can't make it out, Luscombe,' he said. 'If my twelve years'
experience in India goes for anything, your friend Edgecumbe was
poisoned. He had every symptom of a man who had a subtle and deadly
poison injected into his blood. And the way he responded to the
treatment I gave him coincided exactly with what I have seen a dozen
times in India.'

'Might it not be merely a coincidence?' I asked.

'Of course almost anything is possible,' he replied, 'and I could not
swear in a court of law th