Like all the rest of her family, she was very stubborn when her mind was
made up. So the thing was done as she wished it.
No provision was made for either my death or Ernest's--Miss Pontifex had
settled it that we were neither of us going to die, and was too ill to go
into details; she was so anxious, moreover, to sign her will while still
able to do so that we had practically no alternative but to do as she
told us. If she recovered we could see things put on a more satisfactory
footing, and further discussion would evidently impair her chances of
recovery; it seemed then only too likely that it was a case of this will
or no will at all.
When the will was signed I wrote a letter in duplicate, saying that I
held all Miss Pontifex had left me in trust for Ernest except as regards
5000 pounds, but that he was not to come into the bequest, and was to
know nothing whatever about it directly or indirectly, till he was twenty-
eight years old, and if he was bankrupt before he came into it the money
was to be mine absolutely. At the foot of each letter Miss Pontifex
wrote, "The above was my understanding when I made my will," and then
signed her name.
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