one might almost say, shocked. Why be
so outspoken ?  Of course Mr. Frost
understood their real position. But, why speak
of it?  At such a moment it seemed almost
indecorous. Of course she could not be
supposed to mourn for Sir John Gale, but
why not make-believe a little, if even only
to the extent of saying nothing?

Mr. Frost looked at Veronica with a
good deal of undisguised admiration, and no
little secret surprise. She had more spirit
and cleverness than he had supposed! He
had not quite fathomed her character after
all!

And Veronica was perfectly sensible of
the impression she had made.

"I suppose," she said, after a little pause,
"that the best thing will be for me to go to
London at once?"

"It will be well to do so as soon as
possible," said Mr. Frost.

"Our good friend has no doubt of your
getting your rights?" said Barletti, glancing
from the lawyer to Veronica.

"Prince, we must speak to the point.
The fact is, that the legality of your cousin's
marriage will, in my judgment, depend
entirely on the hour at which Lady Tallis
Gale expired. If she died before the
ceremony at Naples took place, the marriage
is good. If she survived that ceremony—
even by five minutes—!"

Mr. Frost finished his sentence by an
expressive shrug. There was a dead
silence.

At length Cesare said, " But the will,
the property; that will be my cousin's? It
must be!"

Mr. Frost slowly shook his head. " I
have not seen the documents, but neither
have you, nor has your cousin. And I do
not disguise from you that, taking all the
circumstances of the case into
consideration, I think it likely that Sir John made that
will prior to the ceremony on board the
Furibond, intending really to bequeath his
property to his real—to his first—wife."

"It would be monstrous! Infamous!
Unheard of!" exclaimed Barletti, in much
excitement.

"He was capable of it," said Veronica.
Then she turned sharply on Barletti.

"Did I not tell you? Did I not warn you
last night? I told you that I was sure all
was not clear—that he meant to fool and
delude me!"

Cesare looked blandly from one to the
other. " Then," said he at length, " my
cousin will have nothing? Absolutely
nothing?"

"Gently, prince," replied Mr. Frost.
"You go too fast. The whole matter
turns upon the legality of your cousin's
marriage. If that marriage were good,
any will made previous to it is null and
void—mere waste paper. Marriage vitiates
any former testamentary dispositions."

Veronica drew a long breath, and raised
her eyes to the lawyer's face.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, in a low voice;
"then, if she—that woman—his—his wife,
died before the hour of my marriage—?"

"In that case your marriage was legal;
Sir John must be held to have died
intestate; and you, as his widow (there being
no child to inherit), will take your legal
share of the personal property. No
inconsiderable fortune, I apprehend."

"But," persisted Cesare, who could not
relinquish the idea that Sir John had
meant to make some kind of restitution,
and to whom the idea of a dying man
doing deliberate evil was horrible: " but I
think he did mean to leave Veronica the
money!"

"You think! Bah! You are mad!"
cried Veronica, in a tone of exquisite
irritation, throwing herself into a chair. She
had been pacing up and down. Her face
was worn and haggard, her eyes were
swollen, her hands fevered.

"The only way to decide the question,"
said Mr. Frost, " would be to see the will.
Who has the custody of it?"

"Paul—the valet I spoke of—has the
keys of his master's desk in his own
possession. The will was locked up in a drawer
of the desk in our presence," replied
Barletti.

"Ay! You consider this Paul to be
trustworthy?" asked Mr. Frost.

"I will tell you what I think would be
the best thing," said Cesare. " If Mr.
Frost would undertake to see us remove
the document from the place where it was
put last night, and examine it, and then
seal it up, and keep it in his own
possession, until we go to England; that
would be quite satisfactory."

Mr. Frost had no objection to do so, and
at Barletti's request rang the bell to
summon Paul.

"Cesare," whispered Veronica, as the
lawyer turned to the other side of the
room to reach the bell, " I need not—it
will not be necessary for me—I—I cannot
go in there!"

"My Treasure, I think it would be best
if you could stand at the door for a moment
even! It will be but for a moment."