Petherton cried "Touché" at once, and lunged at me in accordance with
my plan of campaign.
SIR (he spluttered),--As a very busy man I must protest
against your attempt to distract my attention by writing to me
on a matter that is of no importance. That your discovery is
of a somewhat disconcerting nature I will not deny, but that
it is of any particular value or interest to me is hardly to
be expected, seeing that it relates to a by-gone century, and
any defects acquired by the Pethertons from such a union will,
I imagine, have been overcome by now.
The Fordyces were apparently a more attractive race in the
eighteenth than in the twentieth century. I can scarcely
imagine a present-day Petherton contracting such a
_mésalliance_.
A direct ancestor of mine, Edward Petherton, as I see by the
Family Bible in my possession, was born in 1699, married in
1728, and lived at Kirkby Lonsdale. His wife's name is not
stated, but I can the more readily believe that he is the
misguided individual to whom you refer, as he died in 1729, no
doubt as the result of his rash act. His son, Primus Postumus
Petherton, born, as his second name suggests, after his
father's death, carried on the line. Any possible virtues or
talents my family may possess are not, I am certain, from the
distaff side of this union.
Yours faithfully,