Part 3 (1/2)
It was in the library; the walls of books glittered in calf and gilt in the pleasant April sunlight; the gla.s.s door was opened upon the perfumed garden walks; and the twitter of the busy birds came sweetly over beds of crocuses and early blossoms to break the silence.
”Where is Miss Walsingham? Shouldn't she be here?” asked the doctor.
”I don't think she'll come down, sir,” said the housekeeper.
Mr. Davenport cleared his throat.
”Better send for her, eh?” said he to Captain Brand.
The heir-expectant turned a dark face, disfigured by impatience, upon the lawyer.
”It cant make much difference,” he answered, dryly. ”She can hear her part of it again. Go on.”
”On the contrary, it makes all the difference in the world,” retorted the lawyer, with unexpected heat; ”and I refuse to break these seals until Margaret Walsingham is present.”
”Oh!”
St. Udo Brand raised his level brows and subsided into stolid indifference.
A messenger carried a line from Mr. Davenport to Miss Walsingham's room, and carried down again a message from her, which promised her presence in a few minutes.
Some time pa.s.sed in irksome silence, during which the captain beat the devil's tatoo on the table, and darted mocking glances at the important Mr. Davenport.
Then the sound of a slippered foot crossing the black and brown hall floor sent the captain sauntering to the remotest window, there to watch the struggles of a sparrow caught in the wire framework which protected the espaliers; so that there was no one to welcome Margaret Walsingham in, save old Dr. Gay, who compa.s.sionately pressed her cold band as he led her to a chair, and with his heart pitied the captain's future bride.
She pa.s.sed, with heavy eyes cast down, to a seat behind a bronze statue of St. George and the dragon, where the deepest shadows lurked, and kept the giant warrior between her and that distant window until the will should be declared.
Then the lawyer cleared his throat, adjusted his spectacles, and read:
”THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ETHEL BRAND.
”SEVEN-OAK WAASTE, SURREY, 1862.
”_To all whom it may concern_:--I, Ethel Brand, being on this, the twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in infirm health, yet in possession of sound mind and memory, and all my natural faculties, hereby declare this to be my last Will and Testament, and that I revoke, rescind, and disannul any and all Wills, Testaments, or Codicils previously made by me.
”To my dear grandson, St. Udo Brand, only son of my late son, Cathcart Brand, all other lawful issue being dead, I bequeath the whole of my personal property, estates, houses, and moneys as held by me and in my name, together with the Seven-Oak Waaste estate and house known as Castle Brand, on one condition:
”That he shall, not sooner than one month, and not later than one year, take to be his wife, and the legal mistress of Castle Brand, my beloved and faithful friend, Margaret Walsingham, who held the cup of love to the lips of an otherwise forsaken old woman, and for four years served her without thought of reward.
”Should my grandson, St. Udo Brand, fail to marry Margaret Walsingham within twelve months after my demise, I bequeath all my property, lands, houses, and moneys as above mentioned, to Margaret Walsingham, to be enjoyed by her until the day of her death, and to descend to her children, or next of kin, forever.
”Should St. Udo Brand or Margaret Walsingham die within the year, the property shall revert to the survivor.”
Then followed generous bequests to various charitable schemes, and annuities to the old servants of the castle, the whole concluding in the clause:
”I appoint, and do hereby declare Rufus Gay. M.D., my trustworthy physician, and Andrew Davenport, Esq., my faithful lawyer, to be the executors of this, my Will, bequeathing to each the sum of five thousand pounds, as an humble token of my regard for, and grat.i.tude to them; and adjuring them to see the contents of my Will faithfully carried out.
”All of which I confirm by affixing this my signature, in the presence of these witnesses.
”ETHEL BRAND.