Sentence:  “Two or three months more went by ; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English <WSD>peerage</WSD>, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […]” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The rank or title of a peer or peeress.