The Two Admirals Read Free Page B

has found the name
of his former master, more to his liking than his own. Such things are
common, they tell me, beyond seas."
    "Yes, if he were anything but an American, I might wish he were my
heir," returned Sir Wycherly, in a melancholy tone; "but it would be
worse than to let the lands escheat, as you call it, to place an
American in possession of Wychecombe. The manors have always had English
owners, down to the present moment, thank God!"
    "Should they have any other, it will be your own fault, Wycherly. When I
am dead, and that will happen ere many weeks, the human being will not
be living, who can take that property, after your demise, in any other
manner than by escheat, or by devise. There will then be neither heir of
entail, nor heir at law; and you may make whom you please, master of
Wychecombe, provided he be not an alien."
    "Not an American, I suppose, brother; an American is an alien, of
course."
    "Humph!—why, not in law, whatever he may be according to our English
notions. Harkee, brother Wycherly; I've never asked you, or wished you
to leave the estate to Tom, or his younger brothers; for one, and all,
are
filii nullorum
—as I term 'em, though my brother Record will have
it, it ought to be
filii nullius
, as well as
filius nullius
. Let
that be as it may; no bastard should lord it at Wychecombe; and rather
than the king; should get the lands, to bestow on some favourite, I
would give it to the half-blood."
    "Can that be done without making a will, brother Thomas?"
    "It cannot, Sir Wycherly; nor with a will, so long as an heir of entail
can be found."
    "Is there no way of making Tom a
filius somebody
, so that
he
can
succeed?"
    "Not under our laws. By the civil law, such a thing might have been
done, and by the Scotch law; but not under the perfection of reason."
    "I wish you knew this young Virginian! The lad bears both of my names,
Wycherly Wychecombe."
    "He is not a
filius Wycherly
—is he, baronet?"
    "Fie upon thee, brother Thomas! Do you think I have less candour than
thyself, that I would not acknowledge my own flesh and blood. I never
saw the youngster, until within the last six months, when he was landed
from the roadstead, and brought to Wychecombe, to be cured of his
wounds; nor ever heard of him before. When they told me his name was
Wycherly Wychecombe, I could do no less than call and see him. The poor
fellow lay at death's door for a fortnight; and it was while we had
little or no hope of saving him, that I got the few family anecdotes
from him. Now, that would be good evidence in law, I believe, Thomas."
    "For certain things, had the lad really died. Surviving, he must be
heard on his
voire dire
, and under oath. But what was his tale?"
    "A very short one. He told me his father was a Wycherly Wychecombe, and
that his grandfather had been a Virginia planter. This was all he seemed
to know of his ancestry."
    "And probably all there was of them. My Tom is not the
filius nullius
that has been among us, and this grandfather, if he has not actually
stolen the name, has got it by these doubtful means. As for the
Wycherly, it should pass for nothing. Learning that there is a line of
baronets of this name, every pretender to the family would be apt to
call a son Wycherly."
    "The line will shortly be ended, brother," returned Sir Wycherly,
sighing. "I wish you might be mistaken; and, after all, Tom shouldn't
prove to be that
filius
you call him."
    Mr. Baron Wychecombe, as much from
esprit de corps
as from moral
principle, was a man of strict integrity, in all things that related to
meum
and
tuum
. He was particularly rigid in his notions concerning
the transmission of real estate, and the rights of primogeniture. The
world had taken little interest in the private history of a lawyer, and
his sons having been born before his elevation to the bench, he passed
with the public for a widower, with a family of promising boys. Not one
in a hundred of his acquaintances even, suspected the fact; and