CHAPTER TWOThey drove on for a little while in silence.
Then Vara suggested,
“You had better tell me exactly what the new Earl’s position is in the family. I had never heard of him until my mother told me that he was now here at The Castle.”
“I am afraid that the story is a little complicated,” the Minister answered. “The old Earl had two brothers, the elder, James, was a very odd man, who was almost a recluse and so died unmarried.”
He paused and adjusted his reins before he went on,
“The second brother, Hector, was born in Scotland and married a Scottish girl. But they went South to live in England and they had the one son, Malcolm, who was the father of the present Earl.”
Vara looked thoughtful for a moment.
Then she asked,
“That makes him a great-nephew of the old Earl.”
“That
