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In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had

been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death

and narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a

long term of imprisonment and afterwards returned to England a

morose and disappointed man.

"When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner,

the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery.

My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old

at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable

sum of money-not less than £ 1000 a year-and this she bequeathed

to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a

provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of

us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to

England my mother died-she was killed eight years ago in a

railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his

attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us

to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The

money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and

there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.