The effort came to seem an obsession on the part of Bayne. He was worn
and weary; his business interest languished, and his friends,
remonstrating in vain, regarded it as the culminating injury to his life
and prospects already wrought by the influence of this woman.
Indeed, one of the chief difficulties of the continuance of the
enterprise was the resistance they must needs maintain to the
remonstrance of friends. This finally came to be so urgent that it even
involved an effort to circumscribe the futile activities. In view of the
provisions of Mr. Royston's will no portion of the minor's estate could
be used to defray the extremely lavish expenses that the thoroughness and
extent of the search involved. All the large disbursements of money came
from Mrs. Royston's own share of her husband's fortune. This brought her
uncle, Mr. Marable, into the discussion. Her resources would not sustain
these heavy draughts, he urged. In case the child remained perdu, to be
sure, and the legal presumption of his death obtain by reason of the
lapse of time, his estate would by the terms of the will vest in her, and
thus financially all might be well.
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