The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1870-01-07
BIDDEFORD, ME-, FRIDAY

dip Of ink, and waited for my instructions,
Every thing to my wife, said Sir John 'lha
Is ALL He turned round on his pillow, ant
composed himself to sleep again,
I was obliged to disturb him.
Am I to understand asked, that yot
leave the whole Of the property, Of every sor
and description, Of which you die possessed, ab
solutely to Lady Verinderl'
'Yes,' said Sir John. Only Iput 1t shorter
Why can't you put II shorter, and let me 20 t.
sleep sgaini Every thing to my wife. That
my Win.'
His property was entirely at his own disposal
and was OF two kinds. Property In land Il pur'
posely abstain from using technical language)
and property in money. In the majority o.
cases, am afraid should have felt II my duty
to my client to ask him to reconsider his VIII
In the case Of Sir John,I knew Lady VerindeI
to be, not only worthy Of the unreseryed trus
which her husband had placed in her (all good
wives arc worthy Of that)-but to be also capa-
bic Of properly administering trust (Which, In
my experience Of the fair sex, not one in thous
and Of them is competent to do). In ten min
utes Sir Johns will was drawn aud executed
and Sir John hmself, good man, was finishing
his interrupted nap.
LAZY verinder amply justified the confidence
which her husband had placed in her. In the
first days Of her widowhool she sent for me and
made her Win. The view she took OF her po-
sition was so thoroughly sound and sensible thai
was relieved Of nil necessity for advising her
My responsibility began and ended with shaping
her instructions into the proper legal form
Before Sir John had been fortnight In hisgrayt
the future Of his daughter had been most wisely
and most affectionately provided for.
The Win remained in its fre-prOOf box at my
Office, through more years than like to reckon
up. II was not till the summer Of eighteen hun
dred and forty eight that found occasion to look
at itagain under very melancholy circumstances.
At the date have mentioned the doctors pro
nounced the sentence on poor Lady Verinder
which was literally sentence Of death. wa.
the first person whom she informed Of her stu.
ton and found her anxious to 20 over hel
viii again with me-
II was impossible to improve the provisions
relating to her daughter. But, in the lapse o.
time, her wishes in regard 10 certain minor lega-
cies, left to different relatives, had undergone
some notification and II became necessary tC
add three or four codicils to the original docu.
ment. Having done this ut once, for fear Of nc
cidents, l obtained her ladyship's permission tC
embody her recent instructions in second viii
My obj ject was to avoid certain inevitable confu'
sions and repetitions which now disdgurcd the
original document, and which, to own the truth
grated sadly on my Professional sense Of the fit,
ness Of things.
The execution Of this second Will has been de-
scribei by Miss Clack, who was so obliging as tC
witness it. SO far as regards Rachel Verindcr':
pecuniary interests, il was, word for word, th!
exact counterpart Of the first Will, the only
changes introduced related to the appointment
Of a guardian, and to certain provisions concern.
ing that appointment, which were made under
my advice. On Lady Verinder's death the Will
was placed in the hands Of my proctor to be
''provcd'' (as the phrase is) in the usual way.
In about three weeks from that time-as vel
as can remember-the first warning reached
me Of something unusual going on under the
surface. l happened to be looking in Mt my
friend the proctor's office, and observed that he
received me with an appearance Of greater in
tcrest than usual.
Il have some news for you,' he said. what
do you think heard at Doctors Common this
morning! Lady Verinder's win has been asked
for, and examined, alreadyH
This was news indeed There was absolutely
nothing which could be contested in the Win
and there was nobody could think Of who had
the slightest interest in examining 1t. Il shall
perhaps do well II explain in this plsce, for the
benefit Of the few people who don't know 1t al
ready, that the law allows al Wills to be exam
ined at Doctors Commons by any body who ap
plies, on the payment Of a shilling fee.)
Did you hear who asked for the willl' / in
quired.
Yes the clerk had no hesitation in telling
me. Mr.. Smalley, Of the firm Of Skipp Smsl
ley, asked for II. The Will has not been copiet
vet into the great Folio Registers. So there wal
no alternative but to depart from the usual course
and to let him see the original document. HI
looked II over carefully, and made note in hi'
pocket-book. Have you any idea Of what HI
wanted with iti'
shook my head q shall find OUT an
swered, before am day Older With that
went back at-Onee 10 my own Office.
Ifany other hrm Of solicitors had been con-
cerned in this unaccountable examination Of my
deceased clients VIII might have found SOM
difficulty in making the necessary discovery
But had hold over Skipp & Smalley which
made my course in this matter comparitivel,
easy one. My common-law clerk "a most com
petent and excellent many was brother Of Mr.
Smalley's; and, owing to this sort Of indirec
connection with me, Skipp & Smalley had, fol
some years past, picked up the crumbs that fel
from my table, in the shape Of cases brought e
my office, which, for various reasons, did no
think il worth while to und :rtake. My profes
sional patronage was, in this way, Of some i'm
portance to the firm. I intended, il necessary
to remind them Of that patronage on the prcsen
occasion.
The moment got back spoke to my clerk
and after telling him what had happened sen,
him to his brothes's Cilicc, "with Mr.. Bruif''
compliments, and he would be glad to know why
Messrs. Skipp & Smalley had found it necessary
to examine Lady yerinder's win."
This message brought Mr.. Smalley back tc
my Office, in company with his brother. lie &C
knowle,lecd that he had acted under instruc
tions received from client. And then he pu
il to me, whether il would not be a breach o.
professional confidence on his part TO say more
We had smart discussion upon that, lie
was right, no doubt and was wrong. The
truth isl was angry and suspicious-and in
sistel on knowing more. Worse still, declined
TO consider any additional information offered Il
me. as a secret placed in my keeping claimet
perfect freedom TO use my own discretion,
Worse even than that. took an unwarranta-
nle WlNanllge Vi my posltlou. -SnooSe, Ch, {,
I said to Mr.. Smalley, between the risk OF los
ing your clients business, and the risk Of losin;
nine Quite indefensible, adIit-an act 0
tyranny, and nothing less. Lake other tyrants
Icarricl my point Mr.. Smalley chose his al
tentative, without moments hesitation. ii,
smiled resigneily, and gave up the name Of hi
client:
Mr.. Godfrey Ablewhite.
That was enough for mel wanted to know
no more.
Having reached this point in my narrative
it now bccomcs necessary TO place the reader o
these lines-so far rs Lady verinder's VIII Il
concerncl-on q footing Of perfect equality, IL
respect of information, with myself
Let me state then, In the fewest possibl.
words, that Rachel verinder had nothing but I
life-intercst in the property. Her mothers cI'
client sense, and my long experience, had CON-
bined 10 relieve her Of all responsibility and Il
guari her from all danger Of becoming the vic,
tim in the future Of some needy and unscrupu.
lous man. Neither she nor her husband (if sh,
marrieD could raise sixpcncc, either on the pro.
L.. 81 -.