The money so delivered
up might possibly have formed part of his lordship's private fortune;
but, in the absence of any knowledge as to its origin, his grandson, the
present Lord Maulevrier, preferred to deliver it up to the authorities
of the India House, to be dealt with as they might think fit.
The old earl made no further attempt to assert himself. He seemed
content to remain in his own rooms as of old, to potter about the
garden, where his solitude was as complete as that of a hermit's cell.
The only moan be made was for James Steadman, whose services he missed
sorely. Lord Hartfield replaced that devoted servant by a clever
Austrian valet, a new importation from Vienna, who understood very
little English, a trained attendant upon mental invalids, and who was
quite capable of dealing with old Lord Maulevrier.
Lord Hartfield went a step farther; and within a week of those two
funerals of servant and mistress, which cast a gloom over the peaceful
valley of Grasmere, he brought down a famous mad-doctor to diagnose his
lordship's case.
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