That I may make no mistake in my communication I think it would be the better

"To insert another advertisement will, I suppose, be the better plan," replied Mr. Jordan; "but even on that subject I can advise nothing definite till I have seen my clerk, and heard from him the result of his conversation with the sailor. If he has discovered anything of importance, I will send him to you; but if not, I will call myself to-morrow morning and inform you of what has taken place, and we can then decide on our movements for the future. Perhaps it would be as well," he continued after a moment's reflection, "that you should call at my office, as you would be able to question my clerk yourself on any part of his narrative which might appear obscure. I am sorry to give you so much trouble, but it would also obviate any feeling of curiosity on the part of your servants as to the objects of my visits here."

"I hardly see how," I remarked.

"In case we should succeed in finding your brother, they might connect his appearance with my visits here, and form conclusions on the subject which may be erroneous-at any rate it had better be avoided." I agreed to these remarks, and Mr. Jordan then left the house.

When I found myself alone I had time to reflect coolly on my interview with the solicitor, and I must say I felt greatly disappointed that all my hopes had been so completely destroyed. There were several points also that had not been satisfactorily cleared up before he left me. That the person calling himself my brother was an impostor, there could be no doubt, but how had he obtained so perfect a knowledge of our family affairs? It was very many years since we had quitted Spital Square, and all trace of us must have been lost, and it was therefore far from probable he could have obtained any information on the subject in the neighbourhood. How could he have become aware of Edmond's dishonesty? As I stated before, we had kept it a profound secret, never speaking of it even among ourselves, as if trying to drown the wickedness of the crime in apparent oblivion, although I felt certain it was as indelibly stamped on the memories of my father and mother as on my own.

I remained at home that evening, and as no news arrived from Mr. Jordan, I assumed he had nothing to communicate, so I resolved to call on him the next day. On being ushered into his private room I began to hope that he had something of importance to communicate to me; nor was I disappointed.

all that has taken place in his interview with the sailor, whose appearance had such a singular effect on your soi-disant brother."

I agreed to this proposition, and a few moments afterwards the clerk entered the room, and made the following statement :—

"When I left the office yesterday I found the sailor waiting for me in the street. I at first took no notice of him, and was in the act of passing him, when he said, 'It is very unkind of you not to tell me where I can find that man who was with you before we entered the house.'

"What do you want him for ?' I asked.

"Well, I hardly know,' replied the sailor, 'except it be to have a little conversation with him about an infamous trick he played on me some years ago when I returned from India. Do tell me if he is the same man and where I can find him.'

'You mean to say, then, that your name is Levesque,' I replied.

"I mean to say that it is,' said the sailor.

"And what may the name of this man be whose address you want, and who was with me this morning?'

"His name is John Derigny, and his father was porter in my father's warehouse.'

"I could now easily understand," continued the clerk, addressing me, "how the man Jackson had produced, was able to give so minute an account of your family. At the same time, determined on this occasion, if possible, not to be imposed upon, and yet not wishing to have the appearance of drawing the man out, I volunteered to take the sailor to Jackson's lodgings, and to find out by the way what more he knew of Mr. Levesque's family. We started off together, and my first question to him was whether he had a sister, and if so why he had not called on her. He told me he had only been in England a few weeks, that he had searched all about Spitalfields for some trace of her, but as no one could give him any information on the subject, he feared all his family were dead.

"But,' said he, turning sharply round on me, 'if you are their solicitor, you must know all about them.'

"We now went to the house where I had found Jackson and his friend in the morning. They were not there, and the landlord could give us no particulars concerning them. They had only arrived the night before, and he knew nothing of them whatever. I then asked the sailor for his address, that I might let him know the result of my communication with Mr. Jordan.

"My address,' he said bitterly, 'my address indeed! Anywhere you like-say Lincoln's Inn Fields, and on the doorstep where you found me this morning; for I have not a shilling in the world to obtain a night's lodging.'

"I reflected for a moment what I had better do, and as he appeared miserably poor, I thought it would be as well to secure a room for him in the lodging-house Jackson and his friend had been at the previous day. I found the landlord had one unoccupied, and having paid for it in advance, I gave the sailor a trifle to provide himself with some food, and then returned here. This morning I have seen him again, and conversed with him on several subjects connected with his family affairs. He told me of his sister's first marriage, of the establishment in Spital Square, of some absurd behaviour of the man Derigny at a ball given at the French Embassy, of an old servant of the name of Alice Morgan, and many other things which left no doubt in my mind that he must be the person he professes himself to be."

When the clerk had concluded his narrative I requested Mr. Jordan to have an interview with the sailor claiming to be my brother, and to ask him to mention what present he had made me shortly before he left his family, and the present I had made to Alice Morgan on her wedding-day. Should he answer these two questions correctly, in the former case a silver watch, and in the latter a French Bible, I authorised Mr. Jordan to supply him with sufficient money to purchase clothes, and to tell him to call on me that evening. Mr. Jordan promised he would do so, and I then left the office in full hopes of speedily meeting my brother, and being able to introduce him to my mother.

CHAPTER LVII.

THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON.

851

On arriving at home I wrote to my mother's physician, telling him that it was my intention, unless I sent a telegraphic despatch to the contrary, to return to Brighton the next afternoon; and I then waited with as much patience as I could summon up, the arrival of my brother, or some intelligence from Mr. Jordan's office. I may as well acknowledge that I had no misgiving on the subject, but felt a settled conviction that Edmond would come, and any endeavour to summon up a doubt ended in a signal failure.

Evening at last came, and just before dusk a knock was heard at the door, and I rushed to the head of the staircase to see, if possible, who the visitor might be. Before I could see him, I had recognised my brother's voice inquiring whether I were at home. I was upon the point of going down-stairs to meet him, and had already commenced doing so, when my heart beat so violently that I returned to the drawing-room and advanced towards the window-why I know not. Scarcely a minute afterwards the door opened, and the footman announced Mr. Levesque. Hardly had the door closed again, when I had the happiness of clasping my dear brother in my arms.

It was some minutes before I had sufficiently recovered my self-possession to notice Edmond's appearance. He had changed greatly, though in most respects not for the worse. He certainly appeared much older, far more so than his real age warranted, but on looking more carefully at him, this seemed rather to have been caused by privation and sickness than years. He was dressed and looked like a gentleman, although perhaps to a critical eye his clothes scarcely fitted him in a satisfactory manner, as they had been purchased at some ready-made shop since he had seen Mr. Jordan in the morning. Altogether, however, his personal appearance was such that little trace of the hard life he had led was visible on him, with the exception of his hands, which bore evident signs of having been accustomed to excessive labour.

After the first excitement of our happy meeting had somewhat subsided, we conversed together for some time. To Edmond's inquiries about my mother, I told him the infirm state of her health, of the letter I had received that morning from the physician, and of my intention to return to Brighton the next day. I then repeated to him the principal events which had taken place in our family during his long absence, my second marriage and the death of my husband, Adeline's marriage, and her expected return from India. Edmond then informed me of what had taken place at his interview with Mr. Jordan, and the questions the latter had put to him. Tea was then brought in, and when our meal was over, to my great satisfaction, he proposed giving

me a sketch of his adventures since he had last seen me.

"I dare say," he commenced, "you must have considered me very ungrateful, and that I had acted in a very mysterious manner when I quitted the house as abruptly as I did; but it was not so much my own fault. To make you understand the subject better, I should mention to you that among the passengers on board the ship in which I worked my passage home from India was an invalided soldier of the name of L'Estrange. This man and I soon struck up an acquaintance, which ripened almost into friendship. How it began I hardly know; I think it occurred one calm night, when after talking for some time he said to me, I suppose you think it strange, MacIntyre' (for that was the name by which I was known), 'to find an English soldier with as thorough a French name as mine.'

"What sort of a man was he?' I asked. "Well, between ourselves,' he replied, he was somewhat of a go-ahead fellow, and had once been in trouble about some money he had been accused of making free with. However, he was acquitted, so nothing can be said against him.'

"He then asked me if I knew much of Spitalfields, and I told him I did. We conversed about different spots in the locality and similar subjects, and when I was more intimate with him I was foolish enough to tell him my real name. He had also heard of the adventure with my commanding officer, and of my having deserted, as I afterwards discovered to my cost.

"When the ship arrived in England we quitted it together and came up to town, where we parted, he to find his cousin, and I to see you, Clara. Well, you remember giving me some money to purchase clothes with, and I left the house for that purpose. For some time I wandered up and down Shoreditch, trying to find a shop to suit me. I found one, and was on the point of entering, when the idea struck me that possibly I might be recognised,

I

as the same line of business had been carried on in that shop long before I left England. remained for some moments in a state of doubt, and then remembered the name of an advertising tailor whose shop was in the Minories, and I immediately proceeded there to make my purchases. I must confess I felt some difficulty when I entered the shop, in conjuring up an excuse for the dress I wore, and my wish to change it for a more gentlemanly style. However, after a few minutes' conversation with the shopman, I found myself perfectly at my ease, for he seemed not in the slightest manner surprised at my ungainly appearance, and in a little time had fitted me with a respectable suit of clothes, shoes and all. He gave me permission also to change them there, and those I had lately worn I left behind me, telling the man he could give them to some poor creature who might be glad of them.

"On quitting the shop I noticed three men talking amicably together, at a short distance. Two of them-one a policeman, the other a corporal in the artillery-had their backs turned towards me, the third, a respectably-dressed man, was looking my way. I felt grateful I had been able to change my clothes with so much facility, as the corporal would not know me, and from the policeman I had, of course, nothing to fear. I passed on, and the moment I had done so the man in plain clothes called out, Hullo, Levesque! how are you? Why don't you notice me ?'

"I now looked more earnestly at the speaker, and saw it was John Derigny. Although I had but little liked him, I stopped readily enough. In fact, he was the man of all others I wanted to see, as there was something I particularly wished to ask him about. He had been in the warehouse at Spital Square on the morning I was last there before leaving England, and I wished to know whether my poor father had found the money he had given me to take to the silk mercer's, and which I had left behind me on quitting the house."

Here Edmond broke off suddenly in his narrative. "Why, Clara, what ails you ?" he exclaimed.

Although I knew I had turned deadly pale, I assured him nothing was the matter. "But tell me, dear," I continued, "did I understand you to say that you had left the money at home the morning you quitted us?"

"Certainly, Clara; and, in fact, that was one of my reasons for going away. My father had enclosed the bank-notes in an envelope, which I placed in the breast pocket of my overcoat, and then, as I had slightly hurt my arm, I asked young Derigny to help me on with it. As he did so the coat fell to the ground, but he picked it up, and after he had helped me on with it, I left the house. Just before arriving at the silk mercer's, I placed my hand in my pocket to take out the envelope containing the notes, but to my intense alarm it was not there.