Robert Moody (Lady Lydiard's Steward)

Mr. Troy (Lady Lydiard's Lawyer)

Old Sharon (in the Byways of Legal Bohemia)


Animal

Tommie (Lady Lydiard's Dog)




PART THE FIRST.

THE DISAPPEARANCE.



CHAPTER I.

OLD Lady Lydiard sat meditating by the fireside, with three letters
lying open on her lap.

Time had discolored the paper, and had turned the ink to a brownish hue.
The letters were all addressed to the same person--"THE RT. HON. LORD
LYDIARD"--and were all signed in the same way--"Your affectionate
cousin, James Tollmidge." Judged by these specimens of his
correspondence, Mr. Tollmidge must have possessed one great merit as a