mortal. Nature, in her
strange and unexplained way, told the ill-tempered peer the same tale,
and, when death was actually before his eyes, he repented of his
conduct towards his unfortunate sister. To herself he was unable to
make any reparation, but her boy remained; and, on the 11th of July
1761, he executed an entail of his entire estates in favour of the
heirs of his father, James, Marquis of Douglas, with remainder to Lord
Douglas Hamilton, the brother of the Duke of Hamilton, and
supplemented it by another deed which set forth that, as in the event
of his death without heirs of his body, Archibald Douglas, _alias_
Stewart, a minor, and son of the deceased Lady Jane Douglas, his
sister, would succeed him, he appointed the Duchess of Douglas, the
Duke of Queensberry, and certain other persons whom he named, to be
the lad's tutors and guardians. Thus, from being a rejected waif, the
boy became the acknowledged heir to a peerage, and a long rent-roll.

There were still, however, many difficulties to be surmounted. The
guardians of the young Hamilton had no intention of losing the
splendid prize which was almost within their grasp, and repudiated the
boy's pretensions. On the other hand, the guardians of the youthful
Stewart-Douglas were determined to procure the official recognition of
his claims. Accordingly, immediately after the duke's decease, they
hastened to put him in possession of the Douglas estate, and set on
foot legal proceedings to justify their conduct. The Hamilton faction
thereupon despatched one of their number to Paris, and on his return
their emissary rejoiced their hearts and elevated their hopes by
informing them that he was convinced, on safe grounds, that Lady Jane
Douglas had never given birth to the twins, as suggested, and that the
whole story was a fabrication. They, therefore, asserted before the
courts that the claimant to the Douglas honours was not a Douglas at
all.

They denied that Lady Jane Douglas was delivered on July 10, 1748, in
the house of a Madame La Brune, as stated; and brought forward various
circumstances to show that Madame La Brune herself never existed. They
asserted that it was impossible that the birth could have taken place
at that time, because on the specified date, and for several days
precedent and subsequent to the 10th of July, Lady Jane Douglas with
her husband and a Mrs. Hewit were staying at the Hotel de Chalons--an
inn kept by a Mons. Godefroi, who, with