The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-27

lowed her husband into the sitting room.
James Ferris rosa and bowed.
This gentleman, Annette, belongs to the
firm who manage the business affairs of
Monsieur Corbyn.n
Annette's face changed as rapidly as
that OF her husband had done. So at last
she was going TO hear something. But why
send over a lawyerl And she, too, looked
suspiciously at James Ferris.
"ln the first place, madame" he said, az
have communication TO make which will
doubtless be painful to you and still more
so to the young lady residing with you"
Annette gave him no assistance, but kept
her eyes with a steady inquiring look upon
his face, while her fingers played with her
dress impatiently
''Our client, Mr., Algernon Corbyn," he
went on, twas a few days since thrown from
his vehicle and killed upon the spot"
A low "A-h" came from Annettes half
closed lips, while III. Duport uttered an ex-
clamatioa betokening at ones surprise and
regret.
II thought it best" James Ferris went
on, ITO acquaint you, in the first place,
with this in order that you might break the
sad intelligence 10 his daughter. 1t would
come much better from you than 1t would
from a stranger"
"Apresp Annette said. still sitting i'm
movable.
Ferris went on, wishing from the bottom of
his heart that he had not volunteered TO I'M
der0ake this unpleasant business, Twill be to
ask you some questions IL you will be good
enough to answer them. In the course of
some Investigations into the papers Of the
late Mr.. Corbyn by his nephew and myself,
we came upon some letters from which we
learned the fact, altogether unsupported by
us, that Mr.. Corbyn had left a daughter,
and that she had been brought up in your
charge Beyond the fact OF her existence
and age, we learned nothing, and as the So
licltor Of the family, |, therefore, deemed it
my duty to come over to obtain such infor-
nation concerning her as you could afford
me. | may say that Mr. Corbyn has died
without, so far as we know, leaving will"
A heavy cloud was gathering on Madame
Duport's face; her brows nearly met across
her forehead; there was an angry sparkle i'll
her eye and an added color to her cheek. NJ.
Duport, who was not unfamiliar with these
symptoms. discreetly held his tongue.
"What sorJ of information do you re-
quirel' she asked slowly.
Any Information that you can give me,
Madame. You see we are entirely in the
DARK, we have simply the letters of the
young lady herself to her father. What we
require is of course information such as will
enable us to place this young lady in pos
| session of her rights as soon as we ascertain
what those rights are. | may say that when
the proofs are forthcoming there will be no
opposition whatever on the part Of Mr..
Corbyn's nephew, Mr.. Clitheroe, who has
been brought up to regard himself as Mr..
| COrbyn's neutral heir. / can assure you
that my visit is a friendly one and that you
will be wrong to regard me as hostile. AS
| the solicitor to the family my duty S simply
| to see that the person entitled to the prop
erty, whoever he or she NAV be, shall obtain
| legal possession of it, My first question
then is, have you or she, the young lady,
| any documents belonging to Mr.. Corbyn in
| your possession"
"Tais-toi, Victor" Madame Duport said
| sharply, as she saw her husband prepare to
| speak.
at seems to me, Monsieur, that it will not
be wise for us to entrust such documents as
we may have concerning matter so vital as
the future of our child Construction she
has been as our child from the day she was
born-to a stranger | ask you should we
not rather place them in the hands of q
lawyer here and instruct him to take the
legal steps to place Constance in the posses
sion Of her rights"
Undoubtedly, madame. you can take
that step; and | can only repeat that my in
structions from Mr. Clitheroe are to make
no opposition whatever, rs soon as | am
Furnished with legal proof that this young
lady is the daughter Of NJ. Corbyn AID MS
wife" and James Ferris laid an accent on
the last word.
do you venture to say that Mr.. Corbyn
was not ma ried to that angel who died
hereP
Not at all, madame; say nothing, for l
know nothing. l only know that this
young lady wrote for years to Mr.. Corbyn
as his daughter We do not know as much
as the name of her mother, nor-except
from the fact that she is not mentioned in
her daughters letters-do we know Of her
death. | may tell you that the documents
that will be required are, in the first place,
proof of the marriage Of Algernon Corbyn
with this lady; and, in the second, proof
that this young lady in your care Is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. CorbyD, born
after their marriage"
"The latter you can find for yourself"
Madame Duport said. "At the Marie there
is the register of the birth of the child 1t is
stated there that she is the child of Mr..
Corbyn and his wife Constance; and that
statement is testified to by MIR. Corbyn him
self. / can prove that took the child from
her dead mothers side, and that / have
brought her up ever since. What more
proof do you require than that2 Mr.. Corbyn
acknowledged it as the child of himself and
his wife,
That is excellent as far as it goes,
madame, but sucn statement would not
be received by the law of our country as
proof of the marriage. You see the poor
lady had passed here as Mrs. Corbyn, and
Mr.. Corbyn after her death, both for her
sake and that of the child whom he had ar
ranged to stav here, would naturally regis
ter the child as born in wellock. Still of
course it goes for something, aud now all
we have to look for is the certificate of mar
riage. IL is probable that copy of such
certificate would be among any papers Mr..
Corbyn may have left in your or his daugh-
ter's hands; if not it could be obtained by
searching the register Of the church at
which they were married"
~ am sure they were married." Annette
burst out passionately "She spoke to me
once of her marriage, and am sure that
she was speaking the truth. / would as
soon doubt the saints of heaven as doubt
her wordn
"Did she say where, Madame Duportw
James Ferris, who was by this time con-
WINGED that Annette Duport had no docu-
ments in her possession, asked. Madame
Duport was client "Dd ne speak," he
went on, 'of it as taking place at the sea-
side, or in London, or in some quiet country
church! You see if we have any clue we can
follow it up. An advertisement offering a
reward will often produce evidence of this
kind If one has but clue to the locality"
Madame Duport still sat silent. Amy in
formation you can give may be Of impor-
tance and you will DO iniurin1, instead OF