When the old Lord died, a will was
found, bequeathing all his unentailed estates to his daughter, and this
was of course strong presumption that he believed in the existence of
a deed of entail; but none could ever be found, and the precedents
were not held to establish the right."
"Did he leave my father nothing?" asked Harriet.
"He left him three hundred pounds and made him joint executor with Sir
Jovian. There was no mention of this house, which was the original
house of the family, the first Lord having built the Great House; and
both my father and Sir Jovian were sure the Lord Delavie believed it
would come to him; but no proofs were extant, and my Lady would only
consent to his occupying it, as before, as her agent."
"I always knew we were victims to an injustice," said Harriet, "though
I never understood the matter exactly."
"You were a mere child, and my father does not love to talk of it.
He ceased to care much about the loss after our dear Archie died."
"Not for Eugene's sake?"
"Eugene was not born for two years after Archie's death. My dear
mother had drooped from the time of the disappointment, blaming
herself for having ruined my father, and scarce accepting comfort
when he vowed that all was well lost for her sake. She reproached
herself with having been proud and unconciliatory, though I doubt
whether it made much difference.
Pages:
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37