AN EXTRAORDINARY ROMANCE.

Dunstan Times, 28 December 1900, Page 3

AN EXTRAORDINARY ROMANCE.

A short time ago an advertisement appeared in the columns of a leading London daily paper inquiring for a respectable couple to take charge of a baby. The announcement met the eyes of Mr and Mrs A: , who were a respectable couple without family of their own. Without much consideration they answered the advertisement, and a day or two later there was a startling denouement. Just before mid-day a hansom drove un to their residence, and out jumped a smartly-dressed man, wearing an eyeglass, and of very aristocratic appearance. He stated that, he had come with reference to Mrs A 's application to adopt a ehild. The child was the son of his daughter, and was only six weeks old. He was himself a peer of the realm. In the event of her taking charge of the child he never wished to see or bear of it again. " I will give you £3OO down in gold if you perform this service," he said, in conclusion. Mrs A expressed a wish to consult her husband, but her visitor refused to wait, and offered to increase the sum that he had at first named to £450. Thereupon Mrs A consented to take the child, and the peer counted out before her eyes 450 sovereigns in gold and left. At four o'clock the same afternoon a conveyance drove up with a smartly-attired nurse and a fat, chubby boy dressed with great taste. The woman stated that she had been sent with the child, and delivered it, together with a large case. Then she left without giving any clue. On the case . being opened it was found to contain all the linen and garments necessary for the child, beautifully arranged, until it is four years of age. There is absolutely no clue to the identity of the child or his relatives, and the whole Btory appears likely to remain enveloped in the mystery which at present surrounds it. * Daily Mail.'