reluctance to meet Miss Garth again after what
he had said to her? It might be so. Frank
could throw no light on the subject; he was not
in his father's confidence. He looked pale and
bewildered. His first inquiries after Magdalen,
showed how his weak nature had been shaken by
the catastrophe. He was not capable of framing
his own questions: the words faltered on his
lips, and the ready tears came into his eyes. Miss
Garth's heart warmed to him for the first time.
Grief has this that is noble in it—it accepts all
sympathy, come whence it may. She encouraged
the lad by a few kind words, and took his hand
at parting.

Before noon, Frank returned with a second
message. His father desired to know whether
Mr. Pendril was not expected at Combe-Raven
on that day. If the lawyer's arrival was looked
for, Frank was directed to be in attendance at
the station, and to take him to the cottage, where
a bed would be placed at his disposal. This
message took Miss Garth by surprise. It showed
that Mr. Clare had been made acquainted with
his dead friend's purpose of sending for Mr.
Pendril. Was the old man's thoughtful offer of
hospitality, another indirect expression of the
natural human distress which he perversely
concealed? or was he aware of some secret necessity
for Mr. Pendril's presence, of which the bereaved
family had been kept in total ignorance? Miss
Garth was too heart-sick and hopeless to dwell
on either question. She told Frank that Mr.
Pendril had been expected at three o'clock, and
sent him back with her thanks.

Shortly after his departure, such anxieties on
Magdalen's account as her mind was now able to
feel, were relieved by better news than her last
night's experience had inclined her to hope for.
Norah's influence had been exerted to rouse her
sister: and Norah's patient sympathy had set the
prisoned grief free. Magdalen had suffered
severely—suffered inevitably, with such a nature
as hers—in the effort that relieved her. The
healing tears had not come gently; they had
burst from her with a torturing, passionate
vehemence—but Norah had never left her till
the struggle was over, and the calm had come.
These better tidings encouraged Miss Garth to
withdraw to her own room, and to take the rest
which she needed sorely. Worn out in body and
mind, she slept from sheer exhaustion—slept
heavily and dreamlessly for some hours. It was
between three and four in the afternoon, when
she was roused by one of the female servants.
The woman had a note in her hand—a note left
by Mr. Clare the younger, with a message
desiring that it might be delivered to Miss Garth
immediately. The name written in the lower
corner of the envelope was "William Pendril."
The lawyer had arrived.

Miss Garth opened the note. After a few first
sentences of sympathy and condolence, the writer
announced his arrival at Mr. Clare's; and then
proceeded, apparently in his professional
capacity, to make a very startling request.

"If," he wrote, "any change for the better in
Mrs. Vanstone should take place—whether it is
only an improvement for the time, or whether it
is the permanent improvement for which we all
hope—in either case, I entreat you to let me
know of it immediately. It is of the last importance
that I should see her, in the event of her
gaining strength enough to give me her attention
for five minutes, and of her being able at the
expiration of that time to sign her name. May I
beg that you will communicate my request, in
the strictest confidence, to the medical men in
attendance. They will understand, and you will
understand, the vital importance I attach to
this interview, when I tell you that I have
arranged to defer to it all other business claims
on me; and that I hold myself in readiness to
obey your summons, at any hour of the day or
night."

In those terms the letter ended. Miss Garth
read it twice over. At the second reading, the
request which the lawyer now addressed to her,
and the farewell words which had escaped Mr.
Clare's lips the day before, connected themselves
vaguely in her mind. There was some other
serious interest in suspense, known to Mr.
Pendril and known to Mr. Clare, besides the first
and foremost interest of Mrs. Vanstone's
recovery. Whom did it affect? The children?
Were they threatened by some new calamity
which their mother's signature might avert?
What did it mean? Did it mean that Mr.
Vanstone had died without leaving a will?

In her distress and confusion of mind, Miss
Garth was incapable of reasoning with herself, as
she might have reasoned at a happier time. She
hastened to the ante-chamber of Mrs. Vanstone's
room; and, after explaining Mr. Pendril's
position towards the family, placed his letter in
the hands of the medical men. They both
answered without hesitation, to the same purpose.
Mrs. Vanstone's condition rendered any such
interview as the lawyer desired, a total impossibility.
If she rallied from her present prostration,
Miss Garth should be at once informed of
the improvement. In the mean time, the answer
to Mr. Pendril might be conveyed in one word—
Impossible.

"You see what importance Mr. Pendril attaches
to the interview?" said Miss Garth.

Yes: both the doctors saw it.

"My mind is lost and confused, gentlemen, in
this dreadful suspense. Can you either of you
guess why the signature is wanted? or what the
object of the interview may be? I have only
seen Mr. Pendril when he has come here on
former visits: I have no claim to justify me in
questioning him. Will you look at the letter
again? Do you think it implies that Mr.
Vanstone has never made a will?"

"I think it can hardly imply that," said one of
the doctors. "But, even supposing Mr. Vanstone
to have died intestate, the law takes due care of
the interests of his widow and his children—"

"Would it do so," interposed the other