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 Sir Pagan D’Urberville, that renowned knight who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror, as appears by Battle Abbey roll?’

‘Never heard it before.’

‘Well, it’s true. Throw up your chin a moment, so that I may catch the profile of your face better. Yes, that’s the D’Urberville nose and chin—a little debased. Your ancestor was one of the twelve knights who assisted the Lord of Estremavilla in Normandy in his conquest of Glamorganshire. Branches of your family held manors over all this part of England; their names appear in the Pipe Rolls in the time of King Stephen. In the reign of King John one of them was rich enough to give a manor to the Knights Hospitallers; and in Edward the Second’s time your forefather Brian was summoned to Westminster to attend the great Council there. You declined a little in Oliver Cromwell’s time, but to no serious extent, and in Charles the Second’s reign you were made Knights of the Royal Oak for your loyalty. There have been generations of Sir Johns among you, and if knighthood were hereditary, like a baronetcy, as it practically