I'd go with W.L DE C. also.
Given the layout and the overlap of the letters.
I think the DE portion was done in caps just as a convenience and to make it look right

There's several ways the DEC can appear in a last name.
De C,,deC,,DeC,,de C
I don't know if that makes much difference when searching the universe on the net for names or not.

Then again it could be WLC with the DE having a completely unrelated meaning to the initials of the name.