Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. GOLD, THE INCORRUPTIBLE WITNESS. Accipe Hoc. AFTER she had received the promise she desired from her sons—a promise burdened with so strange a condition—Madam Melcombe seemed to lose all the keenness and energy she had displayed at first. She had desired above all things that honour should be shown to her in her death;, her mind often occupied itself with strange interest and pertinacity on the details, of her funeral. All her wishes respecting it had long been known to her granddaughters, but her eldest surviving son had never been mentioned by name to them. She always spoke of him as " the chief mourner." Suddenly, howeve'r, it appeared to have occurred to her that he might not be present at it, after all. Everything must be risked to ascertain this. She must write, she must entreat his presence. But when he and his brother sent in their cards she, for the first time in her life, perceived that all she had done was useless. She saw the whole meaning of the situation ; for this estate had come to her through the failure of heirs male to her father, and it was the provision of' his will that she and her heirs should take back his name—the name of Melcombe. She knew well that these two sons had always retained their father's name ; but when they sent itin to her, she instinctively perceived their meaning. They were calling her attention to the fact, and she was sure now that they never meant to change it. She had not behaved kindly or justly to her grandson's widow, for people had called little Peter her heir, and she had not contradicted them. But she had never made a will; and she secretly hoped that at the last something would occur to prevent her doing so. Everything was absolutely in her own power, to leave as she pleased ; but a half superst...