‘Don’t be silly, Tom, how can you possibly know that?’ said the Earl, astonished.
The answer came unwillingly, and he admitted with a sigh, ‘Because my grandfather was Richard Bell.’
The Earl was unconvinced. ‘But there must be thousands of men with a name like that, talk sense.’
Seeing there was no alternative, Harry felt in his pocket and produced a worn and somewhat faded envelope. ‘This was the last letter Dad left, I found it in his desk drawer after he died. It tells the whole story.’
Taking it mechanically, the Earl read the contents slowly and reread it the second time to make sure there was no mistake. As the words began to sink in, he looked up in sheer disbelief. ‘You mean to say, you’ve been posing here as my guest and friend, when all the time…’ Words failed him.
‘I hones
