I'll tell you all about them."
Mr Cupples here launched into a somewhat discursive account of Patrick
Beauchamp's antecedents, indicating by its minuteness that there must
have been personal relations of some kind between them or their
families. Perhaps he glanced at something of the sort when he said that
old Beauchamp was a hard man even for a lawyer. I will condense the
story from the more diffuse conversational narrative, interrupted by
question and remark on the part of Alec, and give it the shape of
formal history.
Beauchamp's mother was the daughter of a Highland chief, whose pedigree
went back to an Irish king of date so remote that his existence was
doubtful to every one not personally interested in the extraction. Mrs
Beauchamp had all the fierceness without much of the grace belonging to
the Celtic nature. Her pride of family, even, had not prevented her
from revenging herself upon her father, who had offended her, by
running away with a handsome W.S., who, taken with her good looks, and
flattered by the notion of overcoming her pride, had found a
conjunction of circumstances favourable to the conquest. It was not
long, however, before both repented of the step.
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