'By all accounts,' said Martyn, 'the poor creature must have been
rather a silly woman.'
'For shame, Martyn,' cried Emily, 'how can you tell? They might
have seen her go in, or she might have feared being missed.'
'Or if you watch next Christmas you may see it all explained.'
To which Emily replied with a shiver that nothing would induce her
to go through it again, and indeed she hoped the spirit would rest
since the discovery had been made.
'And then?'--one of us said, and there was a silence, and another
futile attempt to read the will.
'I shall take it to London and see what an expert can do with it,'
said Clarence. 'I have heard of wonderful decipherings in the
Record Office; but you will remember that even if it can be made
out, it will hardly invalidate our possession after a hundred and
thirty years.'
'Clarence!' cried Emily in a horrified voice; and I asked if the
date were not later than that by which we inherited.
'Three years,' Clarence said, 'yes; but as things stand, it is
absolutely impossible for me to make restitution at present.'
'On account of the burthens on the estate?' I said.
'Oh, but we could give up,' said Emily.
'I dare say!' said Clarence, smiling; 'but to say nothing of poor
Selina, my mother would hardly see it in the same light, nor should
I deal rightly, even if I could make any alterations; I doubt
whether my father would have held himself bound--certainly not while
no one can read this document.
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