r uncle--by the way, I suppose we had better speak of
you as uncle and nephew, instead of going into exact relationship? In
fact, your uncle is so old and dear a friend, that, with your permission,
I shall drop formality with you altogether and speak of you and to you as
Adam, as though you were his son."

"I should like," answered the young man, "nothing better!"

The answer warmed the hearts of both the old men, but, with the usual
avoidance of Englishmen of emotional subjects personal to themselves,
they instinctively returned to the previous question. Sir Nathaniel took
the lead.

"I understand, Adam, that your uncle has posted you regarding the
relationships of the Caswall family?"

"Partly, sir; but I understood that I was to hear minuter details from
you--if you would be so good."

"I shall be delighted to tell you anything so far as my knowledge goes.
Well, the first Caswall in our immediate record is an Edgar, head of the
family and owner of the estate, who came into his kingdom just about the
time that George III. did. He had one son of about twenty-four. There
was a violent quarrel between the two. No one of this generation has any
idea of the cause; but, considering the family characteristics, we may
take it for granted that though it was deep and violent, it was on the
surface trivial.

"The result of the quarrel was that the son left the house without a
reconciliation or without even telling his father where he was going. He
never came back again. A few years after, he died, without having in the
meantime exchanged a word or a letter with his father. He married abroad
and left one son, who seems to have been brought up in ignorance of all
belonging to him. The gulf between them appears to have been
unbridgable; for in time this son married and in turn had a son, but
neither joy nor sorrow brought the sundered together. Under such
conditions no _rapprochement_ was to be looked for, and an utter
indifference, founded at best on ignorance, took the place of family
affection--even on community of interests. It was only due to the
watchfulness of the lawyers that the birth of this new heir was ever made
known. He actually spent a few months in the ancestral home.

"After this the family interest merely rested on heirship of the estate.
As no other children have been born to any of the newer generations in
the intervening years, all hopes of heritage are now centred in the
grandson of this ma