“A very amiable woman, Sir James.”

“Did she ever tell you how it came into her hands?”

“She never did, sir.”

“Mr. Saunders, oblige me by sitting down; and if you can give me any information on this point, you will confer on me a very great favor.  Can you tell me what sort of a person this lady is—­where she lives—­and what countrywoman she is?”

“Yes, Sir James; I will first state that she is Irish, and that she lives at present at Greenwich.”  I then described her person.

“This is strange, very strange,” said Sir James, with his hand up to his forehead as he leaned his elbow on the table.

After a pause, “Mr. Saunders, will you answer me one question candidly?  I feel I am not speaking to a mere Thames pilot—­I do not wish to compliment, and if I did not feel as I state, I should not put these questions.  Do you not know more about this person than you appear willing to divulge?  There is something in your manner which tells me so.”

“That I know more than I have divulged is true, Sir James; but that I know more than I am willing to divulge is not the case, provided I find that the party who asks the question is sufficiently interested to warrant my so doing.”

“There can be no one more interested than I am,” replied Sir James, mournfully.  “You tell me she is Irish—­you describe a person such as I expected would be described, and my curiosity is naturally excited.  May I ask what is her name?”

“The name that she goes by at present is St. Felix.”

[Illustration:  “MR. SAUNDERS....  MAY I ASK WHERE YOU PROCURED THIS SPYGLASS?”—­Marryat, Vol.  X., p. 457.]

“She had distant relations of that name; it may be one of them—­yet how could they have obtained—?  Yes, they might, sure enough!”

“That is not her real name, Sir James.”

“Not her real name!  Do you then know what is her real name?”

“I believe I do, but I obtained it without her knowledge, from another party, who is since dead.”

“Ah! may I ask that name?”

“A man who died in the hospital, who went by the name of Spicer, but whose real name was Walter James; he saw the glass in my hand, recognized it, and on his deathbed revealed all connected with it; but he never knew that the party was still alive when he did so.”

“If Walter James confessed all to you on his deathbed, Mr. Saunders, it is certain that you can answer me one question.  Was not her real name Fitzgerald?”

“It was, Sir James, as I have understood.”

Sir James O’Connor fell back in his chair and was silent for some time.  He then poured out a tumbler of wine, and drank it off.

“Mr. Saunders, do others know of this as well as you?”

“I have never told any one, except to one old and dearest friend, in case of accident to myself.  Mrs. St. Felix is ignorant of my knowledge, as well as others.”