The Allen House Part 18

"In favor of Theresa Garcia his wife," she replied.

"But she is dead," I answered quickly.

"True--but I am not his heir."

She said this resolutely.

"She died childless," said I, "and will not the descent stop with her?--the property reverting to you, as next of kin to Captain Allen?"

"She may have relatives--a brother or sister," said Mrs. Montgomery.

"That is scarcely probable," I objected.

"It is possible; and in order to ascertain the fact, all right means ought to, and must be, taken."

"Where did you find the will?" I inquired.

"Blanche was examining a small drawer in an old secretary, when she accidentally pressed her hand against one side, which yielded. She pressed harder, lad it continued to yield, until it was pushed back several inches. On withdrawing this pressure, the side returned to its place. She then tried to see how far it could be forced in. As soon as it had pa.s.sed a certain point, a secret drawer, set in vertically, sprung up, and from the side, which fell open, the will dropped out."

"It is singular," said I, "that it should come to light just at this time."

"It is Providential, no doubt," Mrs. Montgomery remarked.

"What course will you pursue?" I inquired.

"My first step will be to recall Mr. Wallingford."

"I must take the liberty of a friend, and object to that," said I.

"On what ground?"

"This will may be worth the paper on which it is written, and no more.

If the legatee have no relatives, you stand just where you stood before, and will require the evidence as to ident.i.ty for which Mr. Wallingford is now in search. Oh, no, Mrs. Montgomery; he must not be recalled."

The lady mused for a little while, and then said--

"Perhaps you are right, Doctor."

"I am sure of it," I replied, speaking earnestly. "This will, if we find it, on examination, to be an instrument executed according to legal forms, puts your rights in jeopardy, though by no means sets them aside."

"You take the correct view, no doubt," was her reply to this. Her voice was not so firm as in the beginning. As the probabilities began to show themselves again in her favor, she lost a degree of self-possession.

"Let Mr. Wallingford complete his work," said I, "and find, if possible, the evidence you require, in case you prove to be the legal heir, as I trust you will. And until his return, the existence of this important doc.u.ment had better remain a secret."

"Shall I not submit it to Judge Bigelow?"

I reflected for some moments, and then replied--

"Yes. He is your legal adviser, and one in whom the highest confidence may be reposed. The will should be at once placed in his hands for examination."

"And go upon record?"

"Better leave all to his superior legal judgment. But," as the thought occurred to me, "who are named as the executors of this will?"

"I did not examine as to that, being too much interested in the provisions of the writing," she replied.

"May I see the doc.u.ment?"

"Blanche, dear, you will find it in the right-hand drawer of the secretary, in our room;" and Mrs. Montgomery handed a key to her daughter, who left the apartment in which we were sitting. She came back in a few minutes, and handed me a paper, which, on examination, I found to be written throughout, and evidently by the hand of Captain Allen. It was dated San Juan de Porto Rico, January 10, 1820, and was witnessed by two signatures--the names Spanish. The executors were Judge Bigelow and Squire Floyd. There was an important sentence at the conclusion of the will. It was in these words:--"In case my wife, in dying, should leave no relatives, then every thing shall revert to my own right heirs, should any be living."

All this gave the affair, in my mind, a more serious aspect. Before mentioning the executors' names, I said--

"Do you know where Theresa Garcia resided, before her marriage with Captain Allen?"

"In Porto Rico, as I have learned from old 'Aunty,' and also from letters found in searching for the will."

"Which I find was executed at San Juan De Porto Rico, the princ.i.p.al town on the island. Judge Bigelow and Squire Floyd are the executors."

I saw her start slightly, and grow a little pale as I said this.

"Judge Bigelow, and Squire Floyd! That is extraordinary!" She was more disturbed than I had yet seen her in reference to this matter.

"It is remarkable, certainly, that Judge Bigelow, your legal adviser, should be one of the executors of a will, which determines your brother's estate out of the line of consanguinity."

"He must, of course, cease to represent my interest in the case,"

remarked the lady.

"He cannot represent two diverse interests," said I.

"No; that is clear." She said this in a troubled way; and was, evidently, falling into a perplexed state of mind. "Well, Doctor, what is to be done?" She spoke with recovered self-possession, after a short period of silence, looking at me with her old calmness of expression.

I took some moments for reflection, and then said,

"My advice is, to keep your own counsel, and wait until Mr. Wallingford returns from England. Whenever you place this doc.u.ment in the hands of Judge Bigelow, he must go over to the adverse interest; when you will be compelled to seek another legal adviser. You are not just ready for this; nor will be until after your agent comes back with the result of his investigations. No wrong to any one can possibly occur from letting things remain just as they are for a few months."

"I think your view of the matter correct, Doctor," was her reply. "And yet, to keep this secret, even for an hour, when I have no right to its possession, touches my conscience. Is it just? This will is not in my favor. It does not even recognize my existence. It devises property, of large value, in another line; and there may be heirs ready to take possession, the moment its existence is made known to them. Am I not intermeddling, unjustly, in the affairs of another?"

"But for you," I replied, "this will might never have seen the light. If heirs exist, they can, therefore, have no just reason for complaint at the brief delay to which, under the circ.u.mstances, you are, in common justice, ent.i.tled. Your conscience may be over sensitive, Mrs.

Montgomery."

"I would rather it were over sensitive than obtuse," she said. "Worldly possessions are desirable. They give us many advantages. We all desire and cling to them. But they are dearly bought at the price of heavenly possessions. What will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Nothing! It were better for him to die like Lazarus.

No, Doctor, I am resolved in this matter to be simply just. If, in justice and right, this estate comes into my hands, I will take the wealth thankfully and use it as wisely as I can. But I will not throw a single straw in the way of its pa.s.sing to the legal heirs of my brother's wife, if any are in existence and can be found."

"But you will keep this secret until Mr. Wallingford's return?" I urged.

"I do not see that wrong to any one can follow such a delay," she answered. "Yes, I will keep the secret."

"And I will keep it also, even from my good Constance," said I, "until your agent's return. The matter lies sacred between us."