“He plagued people round West Wycombe to tell him stories of what had occurred in the caves. They found him a nuisance and tried to send him away, but apparently he had been very persistent.”
“So you think he is following Sir Francis’s example?” Lord Melburne said reflectively.
“I’m afraid so, my Lord,” Major Foster replied.
“And the villagers are annoyed at Simple Sarah being involved in such unpleasantness,” Lord Melburne remarked.
“It was not so much that she was involved, but recently when her baby disappeared the scandal really broke.”
“Her baby?” Lord Melburne asked sharply.
“She swore that her child had been fathered by him, Mr. Nicholas Vernon,” Major Foster explained. “But a month after it was born it vanished and Sarah was distraught. She had been fond of the child in her o
