‘I beg pardon, Miss Ruthyn; perhaps you would be so good as to show us which of the cabinets in this room your late lamented father pointed out as that to which this key belongs.’
I indicated the oak cabinet.
‘Very good, ma’am — very good,’ said Doctor Bryerly, as he fumbled the key into the lock.
Cousin Monica could not forbear murmuring —
‘Dear! what a brute!’
The junior partner, with his dumpy hands in his pocket, poked his fat face over Mr. Grimston’s shoulder, and peered into the cabinet as the door opened.
The search was not long. A handsome white paper enclosure, neatly tied up in pink tape, and sealed with large red seals, was inscribed in my dear father’s hand:— ‘Will of Austin R. Ruthyn, of Knowl.’ Then, in smaller characters, the date, and in the corner a note— ‘This will was drawn from my instructions by Gaunt, Hogg, and Hatchett, Solicitors, Great Woburn Street, London, A.R.R.’
‘Let me have a squint at that indorsement, please, gentlemen,’ half whispered the unpleasant person who represented my uncle Silas.
‘’Tisn’t an indorsement. There, look — a memorandum on an envelope,’ said Abel Grimston, gruffly.
‘Thanks — all right — that will do,’ he responded, himself making a pencil-note of it, in a long clasp-book which he drew from his coatpocket.
The tape was carefully cut, and the envelope removed without tearing the writing, and forth came the will, at sight of which my heart swelled and fluttered up to my lips, and then dropped down dead as it seemed into its place.
‘Mr. Grimston, you will please to read it,’ said Doctor Bryerly, who took the direction of the process. ‘I will sit beside you, and as we go along you will be good enough to help us to understand technicalities, and give us a lift where we want it.’
‘It’s a short will,’ said Mr. Grimston, turning over the sheets ‘very — considering. Here’s a codicil.’
‘I did not see that,’ said Doctor Bryerly.
‘Dated only a month ago.’
‘Oh!’ said Doctor Bryerly, putting on his spectacles. Uncle Silas’s ambassador, sitting close behind, had insinuated his face between Doctor Bryerly’s and the reader’s of the will.
‘On behalf of the surviving brother of the testator,’ interposed the delegate, just as Abel Grimston had cleared his voice to begin, ‘I take leave to apply for a copy of this instrument. It will save a deal of trouble, if the young lady as represents the testator here has no objection.’
‘You can have as many copies as you like when the will is proved,’ said Mr. Grimston.
‘I know that; but supposing as all’s right, where’s the objection?’
‘Just the objection there always is to acting irregular,’ replied Mr. Grimston.
‘You don’t object to act disobliging, it seems.’
‘You can do as I told you,’ replied Mr. Grimston.
‘Thank you for nothing,’ murmured Mr. Sleigh.
And the reading of the will proceeded, while he made elaborate notes of its contents in his capacious pocketbook.
‘I, Austin Alymer Ruthyn Ruthyn, being, I thank God, of sound mind and perfect recollection,’ &c, &c.; and then came a bequest of all his estates real, chattels real, copyrights, leases, chattels, money, rights, interests, reversions, powers, plate, pictures, and estates and possessions whatsoever, to four persons — Lord Ilbury, Mr. Penrose Creswell of Creswell, Sir William Aylmer, Bart., and Hans Emmanuel Bryerly, Doctor of Medicine, ‘to have and to hold,’ &c. &c. Whereupon my Cousin Monica ejaculated ‘Eh?’ and Doctor Bryerly interposed —
‘Four trustees, ma’am. We take little but trouble — you’ll see; go on.’
Then it came out that all this multifarious splendour was bequeathed in trust for me, subject to a bequest of 15,000l. to his only brother, Silas Aylmer Ruthyn, and 3,500l. each to the two children of his said brother; and lest any doubt should arise by reason of his, the testator’s decease as to the continuance of the arrangement by way of lease under which he enjoyed his present habitation and farm, he left him the use of the mansion-house and lands of Bartram-Haugh, in the county of Derbyshire, and of the lands of so-and-so and so-and-so, adjoining thereto, in the said county, for the term of his natural life, on payment of a rent of 5s. per annum, and subject to the like conditions as to waste, &c., as are expressed in the said lease.
‘By your leave, may I ask is them dispositions all the devises to my client, which is his only brother, as it seems to me you’ve seen the will before?’ enquired Mr. Sleigh.
‘Nothing more, unless there is something in the codicil,’ answered Dr. Bryerly.
But there was no mention of him in the codicil.
Mr. Sleigh threw himself back in his chair, and sneered, with the end of his pencil between his teeth. I hope his disappointment was altogether for his client. Mr. Danvers fancied, he afterwards said, that he had probably expected legacies which might have involved litigation, or, at all events, law costs, and perhaps a stewardship; but this was very barren; and Mr. Danvers also remarked, that the man was a very low practitioner, and wondered how my uncle Silas could have commissioned such a person to represent him.
So far the will contained nothing of which my most partial friend could have complained. The codicil, too, devised only legacies to servants, and a sum of 1,000l., with a few kind words, to Monica, Lady Knollys, and a further sum of 3,000l. to Dr. Bryerly, stating that the legatee had prevailed upon him to erase from the draft of his will a bequest to him to that amount, but that, in consideration of all the trouble devolving upon him as trustee, he made that bequest by his codicil; and with these arrangements the permanent disposition of his property was completed.
But that direction to which he and Doctor Bryerly had darkly alluded, was now to come, and certainly it was a strange one. It appointed my uncle Silas my sole guardian, with full parental authority over me until I should have reached the age of twenty-one, up to which time I was to reside under his care at Bartram-Haugh, and it directed the trustees to pay over to him yearly a sum of 2,000l. during the continuance of the guardianship for my suitable maintenance, education, and expenses.
You have now a sufficient outline of my father’s will. The only thing I painfully felt in this arrangement was, the break-up — the dismay that accompanies the disappearance of home. Otherwise, there was something rather pleasurable in the idea. As long as I could remember, I had always cherished the same mysterious curiosity about my uncle, and the same longing to behold him. This was about to be gratified. Then there was my cousin Milicent, about my own age. My life had been so lonely, that I had acquired none of those artificial habits that induce the fine-lady nature — a second, and not always a very amiable one. She had lived a solitary life, like me. What rambles and readings we should have together! what confidences and castle-buildings! and then there was a new country and a fine old place, and the sense of interest and adventure that always accompanies change in our early youth.
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 postoffice was the more regular channel. Uncle Silas’s representative was questioning Doctor Bryerly in an undertone.
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 afterlife 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. Sleigh’s shoulder, and biting her pale lip, she cleared her voice and demanded —
‘Doctor Bryerly, pray, sir, is the reading concluded?’
‘Concluded? Quite. Yes, nothing more,’ he answered with a nod, and continued his talk with Mr. Danvers and Abel Grimston.
‘And to whom,’ said Lady Knollys, with an effort, ‘will the property belong, in case — in case my little cousin here should die before she comes of age?’
‘Eh? Well — wouldn’t it go to the heir-at-law and next of kin?’ said Doctor Bryerly, turning to Abel Grimston.
‘Ay — to be sure,’ said the attorney, thoughtfully.
‘And who is that?’ pursued my cousin.
‘Well, her uncle, Mr. Silas Ruthyn. He’s both heir-at-law and next of kin,’ pursued Abel Grimston.
‘Thank you,’ said Lady Knollys.
Doctor Clay came forward, bowing very low, in his standing collar and single-breasted coat, and graciously folded my hand in his soft wrinkled grasp —
‘Allow me, my dear Miss Ruthyn, while expressing my regret that we are to lose you from among our little flock — though I trust but for a short, a very short time — to say how I rejoice at the particular arrangement indicated by the will we have just heard read. My curate, William Fairfield, resided for some years in the same spiritual capacity in the neighbourhood of your, I will say, admirable uncle, with occasional intercourse with whom he was favoured — may I not say blessed? — a true Christian Churchman — a Christian gentleman. Can I say more? A most happy, happy choice.’ A very low bow here, with eyes nearly closed, and a shake of the head. ‘Mrs. Clay will do herself the honour of waiting upon you, to pay her respects, before you leave Knowl for your temporary sojourn in another sphere.’
So, with another deep bow — for I had become a great personage all at once — he let go my hand cautiously and delicately, as if he were setting down a curious china tea-cup. And I courtesied low to him, not knowing what to say, and then to the assembly generally, who all bowed. And Cousin Monica whispered, briskly, ‘Come away,’ and took my hand with a very cold and rather damp one, and led me from the room.
CHAPTER XXV
I HEAR FROM UNCLE SILAS
Without saying a word, Cousin Monica accompanied me to the schoolroom, and on entering she shut the door, not with a spirited clang, but quietly and determinedly.
‘Well, dear,’ she said, with the same pale, excited countenance, ‘that certainly is a sensible and charitable arrangement. I could not have believed it possible, had I not heard it with my ears.’
‘About my going to Bartram-Haugh?’
‘Yes, exactly so, under Silas Ruthyn’s guardianship, to spend two — three — of the most important years of your education and your life under that roof. Is that, my dear, what was in your mind when you were so alarmed about what you were to be called upon to do, or undergo?’
‘No, no, indeed. I had no notion what it might be. I was afraid of something serious,’ I answered.
‘And, my dear Maud, did not your poor father speak to you as if it was something serious?’ said she. ‘And so it is, I can tell you, something serious, and very serious; and I think it ought to be prevented, and I certainly will prevent it if I possibly can.’
I was puzzled utterly by the intensity of Lady Knollys’ protest. I looked at her, expecting an explanation of her meaning; but she was silent, looking steadfastly on the jewels on her right-hand fingers, with which she was drumming a staccato march on the table, very pale, with gleaming eyes, evidently thinking deeply. I began to think she had a prejudice against my uncle Silas.
‘He is not very rich,’ I commenced.
‘Who?’ said Lady Knollys.
‘Uncle Silas,’ I replied.
‘No, certainly; he’s in debt,’ she answered.
‘But then, how very highly Doctor Clay spoke of him!’ I pursued.
‘Don’t talk of Doctor Clay. I do think that man is the greatest goose I ever heard talk. I have no patience with such men,’ she replied.
I tried to remember what particular nonsense Doctor Clay had uttered, and I could recollect nothing, unless his eulogy upon my uncle were to be classed with that sort of declamation.
‘Danvers is a very proper man and a good accountant, I dare say; but he is either a very deep person, or a fool — I believe a fool. As for your attorney, I suppose he knows his business, and also his interest, and I have no doubt he will consult it. I begin to think he best man among them, the shrewdest and the most reliable, is that vulgar visionary in the black wig. I saw him look at you, Maud, and I liked his face, though it is abominably ugly and vulgar, and cunning, too; but I think he’s a just man, and I dare say with right feelings — I’m sure he has.’
I was quite at a loss to divine the gist of my cousin’s criticism.
‘I’ll have some talk with Dr. Bryerly; I feel convinced he takes my view, and we must really think what had best be done.’
‘Is there anything in the will, Cousin Monica, that does not appear?’ I asked, for I was growing very uneasy. ‘I wish you would tell me. What view do you mean?’
‘No view in particular; the view that a desolate old park, and the house of a neglected old man, who is very poor, and has been desperately foolish, is not the right place for you, particularly at your years. It is quite shocking, and I will speak to Doctor Bryerly. May I ring the bell, dear?’
‘Certainly;’ and I rang it.
‘When does he leave Knowl?’
I could not tell. Mrs. Rusk, however, was sent for, and she could tell us that he had announced his intention of taking the night train from Drackleton, and was to leave Knowl for that station at halfpast six o’clock.
‘May Rusk give or send him a message from me, dear?’ asked Lady Knollys.
Of course she might.
‘Then please let him know that I request he will be so good as to allow me a very few minutes, just to say a word before he goes.’
‘You kind cousin!’ I said, placing my two hands on her shoulders, and looking earnestly in her face; ‘you are anxious about me, more than you say. Won’t you tell me why? I am much more unhappy, really, in ignorance, than if I understood the cause.’
‘Well, dear, haven’t I told you? The two or three years of your life which are to form you are destined to be passed in utter loneliness, and, I am sure, neglect. You can’t estimate the disadvantage of such an arrangement. It is full of disadvantages. How it could have entered the head of poor Austin — although I should not say that, for I am sure I do understand it, — but how he could for any purpose have directed such a measure is quite inconceivable. I never heard of anything so foolish and abominable, and I will prevent it if I can.’
At that moment Mrs. Rusk announced that Doctor Bryerly would see Lady Knollys at any time she pleased before his departure.
‘It shall be this moment, then,’ said the energetic lady, and up she stood, and made that hasty general adjustment before the glass, which, no matter under what circumstances, and before what sort of creature one’s appearance is to be made, is a duty that every woman owes to herself. And I heard her a moment after, at the stairhead, directing Branston to let Dr. Bryerly know that she awaited him in the drawingroom.
And now she was gone, and I began to wonder and speculate. Why should my cousin Monica make all this fuss about, after all, a very natural arrangement? My uncle, whatever he might have been, was now a good man — a religious man — perhaps a little severe; and with this thought a dark streak fell across my sky.
A cruel disciplinarian! had I not read of such characters? — lock and key, bread and water, and solitude! To sit locked up all night in a dark out-of-the-way room, in a great, ghosty, oldfashioned house, with no one nearer than the other wing. What years of horror in one such night! Would not this explain my poor father’s hesitation, and my cousin Monica’s apparently disproportioned opposition? When an idea of terror presents itsel
f to a young person’s mind, it transfixes and fills the vision, without respect of probabilities or reason.
My uncle was now a terrible old martinet, with long Bible lessons, lectures, pages of catechism, sermons to be conned by rote, and an awful catalogue of punishments for idleness, and what would seem to him impiety. I was going, then, to a frightful isolated reformatory, where for the first time in my life I should be subjected to a rigorous and perhaps barbarous discipline.
All this was an exhalation of fancy, but it quite overcame me. I threw myself, in my solitude, on the floor, upon my knees, and prayed for deliverance — prayed that Cousin Monica might prevail with Doctor Bryerly, and both on my behalf with the Lord Chancellor, or the High Sheriff, or whoever else my proper deliverer might be; and when my cousin returned, she found me quite in an agony.
‘Why, you little fool! what fancy has taken possession of you now?’ she cried.
And when my new terror came to light, she actually laughed a little to reassure me, and she said —
‘My dear child, your uncle Silas will never put you through your duty to your neighbour; all the time you are under his roof you’ll have idleness and liberty enough, and too much, I fear. It is neglect, my dear, not discipline, that I’m afraid of.’
‘I think, dear Cousin Monica, you are afraid of something more than neglect,’ I said, relieved, however.
‘I am afraid of more than neglect,’ she replied promptly; ‘but I hope my fears may turn out illusory, and that possibly they may be avoided. And now, for a few hours at least, let us think of something else. I rather like that Doctor Bryerly. I could not get him to say what I wanted. I don’t think he’s Scotch, but he is very cautious, and I am sure, though he would not say so, that he thinks of the matter exactly as I do. He says that those fine people, who are named as his co-trustees, won’t take any trouble, and will leave everything to him, and I am sure he is right. So we must not quarrel with him, Maud, nor call him hard names, although he certainly is intolerably vulgar and ugly, and at times very nearly impertinent — I suppose without knowing, or indeed very much caring.’
Complete Works of Sheridan Le Fanu (Illustrated) Page 229
