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granddaughter!’ he cried, stepping back a pace and almost falling over a gilt chair directly behind him. ‘Your resemblance to the beauteous Matilda, daughter of my Laurina’s eldest girl, proclaims it!’
    Wasting no more time, Sophia rushed into his arms, which were open not so much to receive her as to steady himself.
    â€˜Oh, sir!’ Sophia was in an ecstasy. ‘When I first beheld you, I knew at once that we were in some manner related, but whether through grandfathers or grandmothers, I could not determine.’
    While the two were embracing, a handsome young man who was also staying at the inn entered the room from the opposite end. Upon perceiving him, Lord St Clair released Sophia and threw up his hands in ever-increasing surprise.
    â€˜Yet another grandchild!’ His voice was becoming quite shrill now. ‘What unexpected happiness is this, to discover three of my many descendants in the space of three minutes.’
    â€˜Oh, happy day!’ the young man said, joining our family gathering.
    â€˜You, I am certain, are Philander,’ Lord St Clair stated decisively, ‘the son of my Laurina’s third girl, the amiable Bertha.’
    â€˜So I am.’
    â€˜But the union of my Laurina’s grandchildren is not quite complete,’ the old man added, shaking his head gravely. ‘One member yet remains: Gustavus.’
    While he was talking, I had observed a graceful youth seated at a table just beyond the open doorway, listening intently to all that was transpiring. At these last words, the young man rose up from his chair and stepped boldly into the room.
    â€˜And here he is!’ the youth announced. ‘Here is the Gustavus you desire to see.’
    I thought it was the end for our grandfather. He looked in danger of succumbing to an apoplectic fit.
    â€˜Can it be true?’ he demanded.
    â€˜It certainly can,’ Gustavus insisted. ‘I am the son of Agatha, your Laurina’s fourth and youngest daughter.’
    â€˜I see that you are!’
    â€˜What a fortuitous coincidence,’ I commented, surveying this unexpected convocation of relatives. Even Sophia, it seemed, was my own cousin—though we never afterward spoke of it, seeing that we were already spiritual sisters and therefore far more closely connected than by mere blood.
    â€˜But tell me,’ Lord St Clair asked, looking around him, somewhat fearfully it seemed to me, ‘have I any other grandchildren at this inn?’
    â€˜None that I am aware of, my lord,’ Philander answered.
    Heaving a sigh of relief, the old man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a large wad of banknotes. At this sight, our hearts rose and our eyes lit up in anticipation.
    â€˜In that case,’ he was saying, ‘I will provide for you all without further delay. Here are four banknotes of fifty pounds each.’
    We all snatched the notes from his hands eagerly. I seem to recall Gustavus attempting to grab hold of two of them, but the old man was stronger than any of us had imagined—at least where his fortune was concerned.
    â€˜Take them, children,’ he declared, stuffing the remainder back into his pocket. ‘And remember that I have done my duty as a grandfather.’
    With unexpected vigour, he turned and beat a hasty retreat to the coach which still waited outside. As he departed somewhat precipitously, I could hear him shouting to his coachman: ‘Gregory, get me out of here! Now!’
    Sophia and I had nowhere to conceal our new-gotten wealth, except for our ample bosoms, where each of us proceeded to stow our banknote. The two young men concealed theirs beneath their coats, I noticed.
    Sophia, meanwhile, was visibly distraught at our grandsire’s hasty departure.
    â€˜Ignoble grandpapa!’ she cried, and immediately swooned, slipping almost noiselessly to the floor.
    â€˜Unworthy progenitor!’ I added, and followed her