"Oliver!"--she began, hurriedly--"I ought to tell you--I don't think you
know. My name wasn't Mallory to begin with--my father took that name."
Marsham gave a little start.
"Dear--how surprising!--and how interesting! Tell me all you can--from
the year One."
He smiled upon her, with a sparkling look that asked for all her
history. But secretly he had been conscious of a shock. Lately he had
made a few inquiries about the Welsh Mallorys. And the answers had been
agreeable; though the old central stock of the name, to which he
presumed Diana belonged, was said to be extinct. No doubt--so he had
reflected--it had come to an end in her father.
"Mallory was the name of my father's mother. He took it for various
reasons--I never quite understood--and I know a good deal of property
came to him. But his original name--my name--was Sparling."
"Sparling!" A pause. "And have you any Sparling relations."
"No. They all died out--I think--but I know so little!--when I was
small. However, I have a box of Sparling papers which I have never
examined. Perhaps--some day--we might look at them together."
Her voice shook a little.
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