The midland journal., 1885-08-07
:. No one who knew her could doubt

LllQI.,
"No-fortunateIy, perhaps, for You
no. The will is in duplicate. You will
find one copy in her secretaire the
other is at our Office. For forms sake,
you had better ask her relatives, al
though they are but distant ones"
al don't even know their names, so
must leave it all to you, Mr.. Harding.''
Then / will send you list. Satllr-
day would suit me very well, if you
wish me to come down and pay the last
tribute of respect to my poor client-I
may say friend.
Saturday be it, if it rests with me,'
replied Cuthbert, who was longing to
to be alone in order to digest Mr. Hard
ings intelligence.
What did it mean? The lawyers
enigmatical and impressive words-the
promise given to the dying woman, and
in the background the sealed letter
He thought about il long, earnestly, and
anxiously. He guessed that the dead
hand laid some heavy burden upon him
and he longed to know what it might be,
feeling that no weight could be heavier
than the suspense he must endure dur
ing the five days which must elapse
before he could open that mysterious
letter. But again and again he vowed,
as atrue man he would carry out in their
entirety the wishes of the dead woman,
though he longed for the day to como
when he might set his mind at rest as
to what was required of him.
It came at last. He had followed Mr..
Harding's instructions, and cousins
bearing the name of Blatchford, and
cousins bearing other names, assembled
i'll Oversee. The rector, as was due to
his richest parishioner, performed the
ceremony, which, for the convenience
of those who came from q distance, was
fixed as late as the light would allow.
Then the mournful party assembled in
the large dining room at the Folly, and
Mr.. Harding read the will. It was
short-very short. If any of the hearers
fostered hope, it only lived through
fifty lines of clerkly writing on sheet
of foolscap. The testatrix kept no one
long in suspense A few generous but
not absurd legacies to old servants, a
couple of charitable bequests and then
while the most stoical of the relatives
held his breath or fdgeted in his chair
the whole of the residue, real and per-
sonal, to my friend, Cuthbert Wrey,
clerk in holy orders--he is also sole exc
cutor That was all too plain, too
simple, not to be July understood by
the most commonplace intelligence.
There was no outward evidence of dis
appointment, no outcry, no passionate
or scandalous scene. No cousin had
been sanguine enough to think his
chance worth much, and each one had
had nothing, his kin were in the
same plight
All had been prepared for disappoint-
ment For many years Mrs. Blatchford
had held little communication with her
family. She had responded, as duty,
to any appea for assistance made by
the most needy members but no one
had been foolish enough to expect the
reversion of any part of her wealth. So.
after all, the Rev Cuthbert Wrey was
the most astounded of the party.
He seemed dazed He scarcely heard
the lawyers whispered congratulations
OF his old rector's outspoken ones. He
bowed mechanically as the majority of
the cousins filed from the room. The
very magnitude of the bequest tod him
that something lay behind the words OF
the will. Had he been given five, ten,
even twenty thousand pounds, he might
have recognized it us an act of generous
friendship. But all-every thingl .Ibe
dead woman's last words rang in his
eifS Llle lctbGT, IJluS III lllo tle'oh 1
home, rose before his eyes. Whatever
that will might say, Cuthbert knew that
its true meaning lay in that sealed
cover, and his only wish was to get
home and learn his fate. He could
bear the uncertainty no longer. The
only persons left in the room were the
lawyer, the rector, and two little knots
of antagonistic COUSINS who had recov-
cred from their surprise, and were con-
versing in low but excited tones at
opposite windows.
" 1 feel bewildered" he said, rising
and draining a glass of wine. '' must
go home and think it over quietly,
"Quite right, my dear boy" said the
rector. whispering as he shook hands:
"Don't trouble about tomorrow. l
will take the whole service at the church.
and Tinley shall come round to st.
Nicholas.
"I dare say you will run up to town
and see me next week" suggested Mr..
Harding; cor if you like, l will come
down again"
Yes, yes; ! will come up" said
Cuthbert.
Then he left the house. and walked
home to Marine Parade.
He went to his room, shut and locked
the door, then took out the letter.
From force of habit, he wheeled his
chair round to its usual position in front
of the fire and prepared to set his mind
at rest as to the true value of the will
which he had SO lately heard read. He
had actually torn the cover open-ln
another minute he would have known
all-when temptation rose, stood
before him, and stared him in the face