re--he's your relation, of course?"

"My nephew-in-law, and Audrey's cousin," replied Mrs. Greyle. Mr. Dennie,
who had walked along with them towards their cottage, stopped in a quiet
stretch of the quay, and looked meditatively at Audrey.

"Then this young lady," he said, "is next heir to the Greyle estates, eh?
For I understand this present Squire isn't married. Therefore--"

"Oh, that's something that isn't worth thinking about," replied Mrs.
Greyle hastily. "Don't put such notions into the girl's head, Mr. Dennie.
Besides, the Greyle estates are not entailed, you know. The present owner
can do what he pleases with them--besides that, he's sure to marry."

"All the same," observed Mr. Dennie, imperturbably, "if this young man
had not been in existence, this child would have succeeded, eh?"

"Why, of course," agreed Mrs. Greyle a little impatiently. "But what's
the use of talking about that, my old friend! The young man is in
possession--and there you are!"

"Do you like the young man?" asked Mr. Dennie. "I take an old fellow's
privilege in asking direct questions, you know. And--though we haven't
seen each other for all these years--you can say anything tome."

"No, we don't," replied Mrs. Greyle. "And we don't know why we don't--so
there's a woman's answer for you. Kinsfolk though we are, we see little
of each other."

Mr. Dennie made no remark on this. He walked along at Audrey's side,
apparently in deep thought, and suddenly he looked across at her mother.

"What do you think about this extraordinary story of Bassett Oliver's
having met a Marston Greyle over there in America?" he asked abruptly.
"What do people here think about it?"

"We're not in a position to hear much of what other people think,"
answered Mrs. Greyle. "What I think is that if this Marston Greyle ever
did meet such a very notable and noticeable man as Bassett Oliver it's a
very, very strange thing that he's forgotten all about it!"

Mr. Dennie laughed quietly.

"Aye, aye!" he said. "But--don't you think we folk of the profession are
a little bit apt to magnify our own importance? You say 'Bless me, how
could anybody ever forget an introduction to Bassett Oliver!' But we must
remember that to some people even a famous actor is of no more importance
than--shall we say a respectable grocer? Marston Greyle may be one of
those people--it's quite possible he may have been introduced, quite
casually, to Oliver at some club, or gathering, so