'No exceptions, sir.' 'None.'

'Very good,' the attorney answered with the air of a man satisfied so

far. 'And failing issue of your uncle? To whom then, Sir George?' 'To the Earl of Chatham.' Mr. Fishwick jumped in his seat; then bowed profoundly.

'Indeed! Indeed! How very interesting!' he murmured under his breath.

'Very remarkable! Very remarkable, and flattering.' Sir George stooped to explain. 'I have no near relations,' he said

shortly. 'Lord Chatham--he was then Mr. Pitt--was the executor of my

grandfather's will, is connected with me by marriage, and at one time

acted as my guardian.' Mr. Fishwick licked his lips as if he tasted something very good. This

was business indeed! These were names with a vengeance! His face shone

with satisfaction; he acquired a sudden stiffness of the spine. 'Very

good, sir,' he said. 'Ve--ry good,' he said. 'In fee simple, I

understand?' 'Yes.'

'Precisely. Precisely; no uses or trusts? No. Unnecessary of course.

Then as to personalty, Sir George?'

'A legacy of five hundred guineas to George Augustus Selwyn, Esquire, of

Matson, Gloucestershire. One of the same amount to Sir Charles Bunbury,

Baronet. Five hundred guineas to each of my executors; and to each of

these four a mourning ring.'

'Certainly, sir. All very noble gifts!' And Mr. Fishwick smacked his

lips.

For a moment Sir George looked his offence; then seeing that the

attorney's ecstasy was real and unaffected, he smiled. 'To my

land-steward two hundred guineas,' he said; 'to my house-steward one

hundred guineas, to the housekeeper at Estcombe an annuity of twenty

guineas. Ten guineas and a suit of mourning to each of my upper

servants not already mentioned, and the rest of my personalty--'

'After payment of debts and funeral and testamentary expenses,' the

lawyer murmured, writing busily.

Sir George started at the words, and stared thoughtfully before him: he

was silent so long that the lawyer recalled his attention by gently

repeating, 'And the residue, honoured sir?'

'To the Thatched House Society for the relief of small debtors,' Sir

George answered, between a sigh and a smile. And added, 'They will not

gain much by it, poor devils!' Mr. Fishwick with a rather downcast air noted the bequest. 'And that is

all, sir, I think?' he said with his head on one side. 'Except the

appointment of executors.'

'No,' Sir George answered curtly. 'It is not all. Take this down and be

careful. As to the trust fund of fifty thousand pounds'--the attorney

gasped, and his eyes shone as he seized the pen anew. 'Take this down

carefully, man, I say,' Sir George continued. 'As to the trust fund left

by my grandfather's will to my uncle Anthony Soane or his heirs

conditionally on his or their returning to their allegiance and claiming

it within the space of twenty-one years from the date of his will, the

interest in the meantime to be paid to me for my benefit, and the

principal sum, failing such return, to become mine as fully as if it had

vested in me from the beginning--'




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