isabel, when she was left alone, felt that a terrible weight of duty was imposed on her. she seemed to be immediately encompassed by a double world of circumstances. there was that world of grief which was so natural, but which would yet be easy, could she only be allowed to sit down and weep. but it was explained to her that until after the funeral, and till the will should have been read, everything about llanfeare must be done by her and in obedience to her orders. this necessity of action,—of action which in her present condition of mind did not seem clear to her,—was not at all easy.
the doctor was good to her, and gave her some instruction before he left her. "shall i give the keys to my cousin?" she said to him. but even as she said this there was the doubt on her mind what those last words of her uncle had been intended to mean. though her grief was very bitter, though her sorrow was quite sincere, she could not keep herself from thinking of those words. it was not that she was anxious to get the estate for herself. it was hardly in that way that the matter in these moments presented itself to her. did the meaning of those words impose on her any duty? would it be right that she should speak of them, or be silent? ought she to suppose that they had any meaning, and if so, that they referred to the will?
"i think that you should keep the keys till after the will has been read," said the doctor.
"even though he should ask for them?"
"even though he should ask for them," said the doctor. "he will not press such a request if you tell him that i say it ought to be so. if there be any difficulty, send for mr apjohn."
mr apjohn was the lawyer; but there had been quite lately some disagreement between her uncle and mr apjohn, and this advice was not palatable to her.
"but," continued dr powell, "you will not find any difficulty of that kind. the funeral had better be on monday. and the will, i suppose, can be read afterwards. mr apjohn will come out and read it. there can be no difficulty about that. i know that mr apjohn's feelings are of the kindest towards your uncle and yourself."
mr apjohn had taken upon himself to "scold" her uncle because of the altered will,—the will that had been altered in favour of cousin henry. so much the old man had said to isabel himself. "if i think it proper, he has no right to scold me," the old man had said. the "scolding" had probably been in the guise of that advice which a lawyer so often feels himself justified in giving.
isabel thought that she had better keep those words to herself, at any rate for the present. she almost resolved that she would keep those words altogether to herself, unless other facts should come out which would explain their meaning and testify to their truths. she would say nothing of them in a way that would seem to imply that she had been led by them to conceive that she expected the property. she did certainly think that they alluded to the property. "it is all right. it is done." when her uncle had uttered these words, using the last effort of his mortal strength for the purpose, he no doubt was thinking of the property. he had meant to imply that he had done something to make his last decision "right" in her favour. she was, she thought, sure of so much. but then she bore in mind the condition of the old man's failing mind,—those wandering thoughts which would so naturally endeavour to fix themselves upon her and upon the property in combination with each other. how probable was it that he would dream of something that he would fain do, and then dream that he had done it! and she knew, too, as well as the lawyer would know himself, that the words would go for nothing, though they had been spoken before a dozen witnesses. if a later will was there, the later will would speak for itself. if no later will was there, the words were empty breath.
but above all was she anxious that no one should think that she was desirous of the property,—that no one should suppose that she would be hurt by not having it. she was not desirous, and was not hurt. the matter was so important, and had so seriously burdened her uncle's mind, that she could not but feel the weight herself; but as to her own desires, they were limited to a wish that her uncle's will, whatever it might be, should be carried out. not to have llanfeare, not to have even a shilling from her uncle's estate, would hurt her but little,—would hurt her heart not at all. but to know that it was thought by others that she was disappointed,—that would be a grievous burden to her! therefore she spoke to dr powell, and even to her cousin, as though the estate were doubtless now the property of the latter.
henry jones at this time,—during the days immediately following his uncle's death,—seemed to be so much awe-struck by his position, as to be incapable of action. to his cousin isabel he was almost servile in his obedience. with bated breath he did suggest that the keys should be surrendered to him, making his proposition simply on the ground that she would thus be saved from trouble; but when she told him that it was her duty to keep them till after the funeral, and that it would be her duty to act as mistress in the house till after that ceremony, he was cringing in his compliance.
"whatever you think best, isabel, shall be done. i would not interfere for a moment."
then some time afterwards, on the following day, he assured her that whatever might be the nature of the will, she was to regard llanfeare as her home as long as it would suit her to remain there.
"i shall go back to papa very soon," she had said, "as soon, indeed, as i can have my things packed up after the funeral. i have already written to papa to say so."
"everything shall be just as you please," he replied; "only, pray, believe that if i can do anything for your accommodation it shall be done."
to this she made some formal answer of courtesy, not, it may be feared, very graciously. she did not believe in his civility; she did not think he was kind to her in heart, and she could not bring herself to make her manner false to her feelings. after that, during the days that remained before the funeral, very little was said between them. her dislike to him grew in bitterness, though she failed to explain even to herself the cause of her dislike. she did know that her uncle had been in truth as little disposed to love him as herself, and that knowledge seemed to justify her. those last words had assured her at any rate of that, and though she was quite sure of her own conscience in regard to llanfeare, though she was certain that she did not covet the possession of the domain, still she was unhappy to think that it should become his. if only for the tenants' sake and the servants, and the old house itself, there were a thousand pities in that. and then the belief would intrude itself upon her that her uncle in the last expression of his wishes had not intended his nephew to be his heir.
then, in these days reports reached her which seemed to confirm her own belief. it had not been the habit of her life to talk intimately with the servants, even though at llanfeare there had been no other woman with whom she could talk intimately. there had been about her a sense of personal dignity which had made such freedom distasteful to herself, and had repressed it in them. but now the housekeeper had come to her with a story to which isabel had found it impossible not to listen. it was reported about the place that the squire had certainly executed another will a few days after isabel had left llanfeare.
"if so," said isabel sternly, "it will be found when mr apjohn comes to open the papers."
but the housekeeper did not seem satisfied with this. though she believed that some document had been written, mr apjohn had not been sent for, as had always been done on former similar occasions. the making of the squire's will had been a thing always known and well understood at llanfeare. mr apjohn had been sent for on such occasions, and had returned after a day or two, accompanied by two clerks. it was quite understood that the clerks were there to witness the will. the old butler, who would bring in the sherry and biscuits after the operation, was well acquainted with all the testamentary circumstances of the occasions. nothing of that kind had occurred now; but old joseph cantor, who had been a tenant on the property for the last thirty years, and his son, joseph cantor the younger, had been called in, and it was supposed that they had performed the duty of witnessing the document. the housekeeper seemed to think that they, when interrogated, had declined to give any information on the subject. she herself had not seen them, but she had seen others of the tenants, and she was certain, she said, that llanfeare generally believed that the old squire had executed a will during the absence of his niece.
in answer to all this isabel simply said that if a new will, which should turn out to be the real will, had actually been made, it would be found among her uncle's papers. she knew well the manner in which those other wills had been tied and deposited in one of the drawers of her uncle's tables. she had been invited to read them all, and had understood from a thousand assurances that he had wished that nothing should be kept secret from her. the key of the very drawer was at this moment in her possession. there was nothing to hinder her from searching, should she wish to search. but she never touched the drawer. the key which locked it she placed in an envelope, and put it apart under another lock and key. though she listened, though she could not but listen, to the old woman's narrative, yet she rebuked the narrator. "there should be no talking about such things," she said. "it had been," she said, "her uncle's intention to make his nephew the owner of llanfeare, and she believed that he had done so. it was better that there should be no conversation on the matter until the will had been read."
during these days she did not go beyond the precincts of the garden, and was careful not to encounter any of the tenants, even when they called at the house. mr apjohn she did not see, nor dr powell again, till the day of the funeral. the lawyer had written to her more than once, and had explained to her exactly the manner in which he intended to proceed. he, with dr powell, would be at the house at eleven o'clock; the funeral would be over at half-past twelve; they would lunch at one, and immediately afterwards the will should be "looked for" and read. the words "looked for" were underscored in his letter, but no special explanation of the underscoring was given. he went on to say that the tenants would, as a matter of course, attend the funeral, and that he had taken upon himself to invite some few of those who had known the squire most intimately, to be present at the reading of the will. these he named, and among them were joseph cantor the elder, and joseph cantor the younger. it immediately occurred to isabel that the son was not himself a tenant, and that no one else who was not a tenant was included in the list. from this she was sure that mr apjohn had heard the story which the housekeeper had told her. during these days there was little or no intercourse between isabel and her cousin. at dinner they met, but only at dinner, and even then almost nothing was said between them. what he did with himself during the day she did not even know. at llanfeare there was a so-called book-room, a small apartment, placed between the drawing-room and the parlour, in which were kept the few hundred volumes which constituted the library of llanfeare. it had not been much used by the late squire except that from time to time he would enter it for the sake of taking down with his own hands some volume of sermons from the shelves. he himself had for years been accustomed to sit in the parlour, in which he ate his meals, and had hated the ceremony of moving even into the drawing-room. isabel herself had a sitting-room of her own upstairs, and she, too, had never used the book-room. but here cousin henry had now placed himself, and here he remained through the whole day, though it was not believed of him that he was given to much reading. for his breakfast and his supper he went to the parlour alone. at dinner time isabel came down. but through all the long hours of the day he remained among the books, never once leaving the house till the moment came for receiving mr apjohn and dr powell before the funeral. the housekeeper would say little words about him, wondering what he was doing in the book-room. to this isabel would apparently pay no attention, simply remarking that it was natural that at such a time he should remain in seclusion.
"but he does get so very pale, miss isabel," said the housekeeper. "he wasn't white, not like that when he come first to llanfeare." to this isabel made no reply; but she, too, had remarked how wan, how pallid, and how spiritless he had become.
on the monday morning, when the men upstairs were at work on their ghastly duty, before the coming of the doctor and the lawyer, she went down to him, to tell him something of the programme for the day. hitherto he had simply been informed that on that morning the body would be buried under the walls of the old parish church, and that after the funeral the will would be read. entering the room somewhat suddenly she found him seated, vacant, in a chair, with an open book indeed on the table near him, but so placed that she was sure that he had not been occupied with it. there he was, looking apparently at the bookshelves, and when she entered the room he jumped up to greet her with an air of evident surprise.
"mr apjohn and dr powell will be here at eleven," she said.
"oh, ah; yes," he replied.
"i thought i would tell you, that you might be ready."
"yes; that is very kind. but i am ready. the men came in just now, and put the band on my hat, and laid my gloves there. you will not go, of course?"
"yes; i shall follow the body. i do not see why i should not go as well as you. a woman may be strong enough at any rate for that. then they will come back to lunch."
"oh, indeed; i did not know that there would be a lunch."
"yes; dr powell says that it will be proper. i shall not be there, but you, of course, will be present to take the head of the table."
"if you wish it."
"of course; it would be proper. there must be some one to seem at any rate to entertain them. when that is over mr apjohn will find the will, and will read it. richard will lay the lunch here, so that you may go at once into the parlour, where the will will be read. they tell me that i am to be there. i shall do as they bid me, though it will be a sore trouble to me. dr powell will be there, and some of the tenants. mr apjohn has thought it right to ask them, and therefore i tell you. those who will be present are as follows:—john griffith, of coed; william griffith, who has the home farm; mr mortimer green, of kidwelly; samuel jones, of llanfeare grange; and the two cantors, joseph cantor the father, and joseph the son. i don't know whether you know them by appearance as yet."
"yes," said he, "i know them." his face was almost sepulchral as he answered her, and as she looked at him she perceived that a slight quiver came upon his lips as she pronounced with peculiar clearness the two last names on the list.
"i thought it best to tell you all this," she added. "if i find it possible, i shall go to hereford on wednesday. most of my things are already packed. it may be that something may occur to stop me, but if it is possible i shall go on wednesday."
