'Yes.'

'But if it were, she would have known your name.'

'Hardly. The title had not come in those days; and if she heard of
us at all it would be as Kerrs. I ventured further to put out a
feeler by asking whether he knew what her husband had been, and he
said he believed he had been lost at sea, but he, Mr. Spyers I mean,
had only been at Micklethwayte three or four years, and had merely
known her as a widow.'

'I suppose it is worth following up,' said Mark, rather reluctantly.
'I wish I had seen her. I think I should know Miss Headworth again,
and she would hardly know me.'

'You see what comes of absconding.'

'After all, it was best,' said Mark. 'Supposing her to be the real
woman, which I don't expect, it might have been awkward if she had
heard my name! How can we ascertain the history of this person
without committing ourselves?'

Lord Kirkaldy, an able man, who had been for many years a
diplomatist, here joined the party, and the whole story was laid
before him. He was new to Micklethwayte, having succeeded a somewhat
distant kinsman, and did not know enough of the place to be able to
fix on any one to whom to apply for information; but the result of
the consultation was that Lady Kirkaldy should go alone to call on
Miss Headworth, and explain that she was come to inquire about a
young lady of the same name, who had once been governess to the