There were four letters all alike with large, red seals, addressed
respectively to each of the trustees named in the will. There was also one
addressed to Silas Alymer Ruthyn, Esq., Bartram-Haugh Manor, &c. &c., which
Mr. Sleigh offered to deliver. But Doctor Bryerly thought the post-office
was the more regular channel. Uncle Silas's representative was questioning
Doctor Bryerly in an under-tone.
I turned my eyes on my cousin Monica--I felt so inexpressibly
relieved--expecting to see a corresponding expression in her countenance.
But I was startled. She looked ghastly and angry. I stared in her face, not
knowing what to think. Could the will have personally disappointed her?
Such doubts, though we fancy in after-life they belong to maturity and
experience only, do sometimes cross our minds in youth. But the suggestion
wronged Lady Knollys, who neither expected nor wanted anything, being rich,
childless, generous, and frank. It was the unexpected character of
her countenance that scared me, and for a moment the shock called up
corresponding moral images.
Lady Knollys, starting up, raised her head, so as to see over Mr.
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