The Finger of Fate Part 43

"And you a.s.sure me he _is_ alive?" was the question again put with an emphasis that showed its importance.

"The best proof I can give you is this."

I handed over the letter written by Henry Harding, containing a requisition upon him for the legacy of a thousand pounds.

"A thousand pounds!" exclaimed the lawyer, as soon as he had read. "A thousand pounds! A hundred thousand, every shilling of it! Yes! and the acc.u.mulated interest, and the mortgage already obtained, and the waste by that scoundrel Woolet! Ah! here's a penalty for Mr Nigel Harding to pay, and his sweet spendthrift of a wife!"

I was not prepared for this explosion; and as soon as it had to some extent subsided, I asked Mr Lawson to explain.

"Explain!" he said, putting on his spectacles, and turning towards me with a businesslike air. "To you, sir, I shall have much pleasure in explaining. This letter tells me I can trust you. Thank G.o.d, the lad still lives!--the true son of my old friend Harding: as he told me on his dying-bed, and with his last breath. Thank G.o.d, he is still alive; and we shall yet be able to punish the usurpers, and that pettifogging Woolet as well! Oh, this is good news--a glorious revelation--a resurrection, one may call it!"

"But what does it all mean, Mr Lawson? I came to you at the request of my friend, Mr Henry Harding, whom by chance I met while travelling in South America, on the Parana--as you will see by his letter. He has commissioned me, as you will also perceive, to call upon you, and make certain inquiries. He is under the impression that you hold in your hands a legacy of one thousand pounds left him by his father. If so, he has given me the authority to receive it."

"A thousand pounds! A thousand pence! Is Beechwood estate worth only a thousand pounds? Read this, sir--just run your eye over that doc.u.ment!"

A grand sheet of parchment, pulled from out a tin case, was flung before me. I saw it was lettered as a will. I took it up, and spreading it upon the table, read what was written. I need not give its contents in detail. It stated that General Harding had revoked the terms of a former will, which left the whole of his estate to his eldest son, Nigel, with a legacy of one thousand pounds to his youngest, Henry; that this second will exactly transposed the conditions, leaving the estate to Henry, and the thousand-pound legacy to Nigel! It also contained ample instructions for the administration, Mr Lawson and his son being the appointed administrators. It was not to be made known to Nigel Harding himself, unless it should be ascertained that Henry was still alive. To determine this point, all due diligence was to be used, by advertis.e.m.e.nts in the papers, and such other means as the administrators should see fit. Meanwhile, Nigel was to retain possession of the estate, as by the terms of the former testament; and in the event of Henry's death being proved, he was not only to be left undisturbed, but kept ignorant of the existence of the second will--which would then be null and void. There was a codicil--similar to one in the former will-- by which the General's sister was to have a life-interest out of the estate, amounting to two hundred pounds per annum. Such were the terms of the testament which the solicitor had laid before me.

It is scarce necessary to say, that I perused the doc.u.ment containing these singular conditions with no slight astonishment, and certainly with a feeling of gratification. My hospitable host--the young _estanciero_ on the Parana--need no longer feel under any obligation to his worthy father-in-law; and, little as he professed to love England, I could not help thinking that possession of this fine paternal estate would do much to modify his prejudices against his native land.

"By this will," I said, addressing myself to the solicitor, "it appears that Henry Harding becomes the sole inheritor of the Beechwood property?"

"It is certain," answered he; "all but the thousand-pound legacy, and the life-annuity."

"It will be a surprise for Mr Nigel."

"Ah! and Mr Woolet too. They did all they could to keep me from advertising for the lost legatee. Of course, they supposed I did so in order to pay him the paltry thousand pounds. Mr Nigel may now have that, and see how far it will cover Woolet's costs. My word! it will be an explosion! And now for the first steps towards bringing it about."

"How do you intend to proceed?"

The lawyer looked at me, as if hesitating to answer the question.

"Excuse me," I said; "I asked rather out of curiosity than otherwise."

"There you are wrong, good sir. Pardon me for being plain with you.

You have the legal authority to act for him."

"That," I said, "was only under the supposition that he was to receive a legacy of a thousand pounds. With an estate, as you say, worth a hundred thousand pounds, the affair takes a different shape, and clearly goes beyond my discretionary powers. Though I cannot act as a princ.i.p.al in the matter, I am willing to help you every way I can. I feel sufficiently indebted to your client to do so."

"And that is just what I intended asking you. Hence my hesitation in replying to your question. I am glad to know that we can count on your a.s.sistance. No doubt, we shall need it. Men don't yield up possession of a hundred thousand without showing fight. We may expect all that, and some questionable strategy besides, from such a fellow as Woolet--a thorough scoundrel--without one jot of principle!"

"But how can they dispute this will?" I asked. "It seems clear enough, and of course you know it to have been the latest and last."

"Signed by General Harding the day before he died. Regularly and carefully attested--you see the names upon it. They cannot dispute the doc.u.ment."

"What then?"

"Ah! what then? That is just the point I think it will turn upon the _ident.i.ty_ of our claimant. By the way, what does the young fellow look like? Is he much altered in appearance since he left England?"

"That question I cannot answer."

"Indeed! It is but two months since you have seen him."

"True; but I may almost say I then saw him for the first time. I had met him six years before, but only on one or two occasions, and had lost all remembrance of his looks."

"He was very young," pursued the solicitor in soliloquy,--"a mere boy when that unfortunate affair occurred. After all, perhaps, not so unfortunate! No doubt, he will be much changed. A captivity among brigands--fighting on barricades--a beard--the tan of a South American sun--to say nothing of getting married--no doubt, the Henry Harding of to-day is entirely unlike the Henry Harding who left home six years ago.

My word! there might be a difficulty in identifying him, and we may dread the worst. People nowadays can be had to swear anything--that black's blue, or even white, if it's wanted--and money enough to pay for the perjury. In this case there will be both money and a determination to use it. Woolet won't stick at anything; nor will Mr Nigel Harding either--to say nothing of Mrs Nigel and her amiable mother. We're sure to have a fight, sir--sure of it."

"You don't appear to have much fear about the result?"

I said this, noticing that the lawyer talked with an air of triumphant confidence, besides having used the conditional tense when speaking of the chances of his client being identified.

"Not the slightest--not the slightest. I don't apprehend any difficulty. There might have been; but I fancy I have a scheme to set all right. Never mind, sir; you shall be told of it in good time. And now for citing all parties into Court."

"But do you mean to do that now?"

"Of course not; oh no. I was only speaking figuratively. The first thing is to get Mr Henry Harding here,--he must be sent for immediately. Let me see: _Estancia Torreani, Rosario_. Up the Parana River, you say. With your kind directions, sir, my own son shall start for South America at once. It's a long way, but no matter for that. A hundred thousand pounds is worth going round the world for more than once. And now, sir, I will make request for two favours: one, that you will write to your friend, Mr Henry Harding, telling him what you have learnt. My son can carry your letter along with other instructions.

The other favour I would ask is, that you give your word to keep this affair a secret until--well, until Mr Henry Harding himself appears upon the ground."

Of course the promise was given--as also the directions to serve Lawson junior on his Transatlantic itinerary; and leaving my address, so that Lawson senior could at any time communicate with me, I took my departure from Lincoln's Inn Fields, rejoiced, as well as surprised, at the discovery I had made.

CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE.

THE FINGER OF FATE.

In less than six months from the date of my interview with the Lincoln's Inn lawyer, there occurred in the London courts a trial of more than usual interest.

It was a case of contested will--no very uncommon thing. But in that to which I refer, there were circ.u.mstances of a peculiar, I might say very peculiar, kind. These, with the position of the parties concerned, rendered the suit worthy of being placed among the records of _causes celebres_.

It was the case of "Harding _versus_ Harding;" the defendant being Nigel Harding, Esq, of Beechwood Park, Buckinghamshire; the plaintiff, a Mr Henry Harding, who claimed to be his half-brother.

The matter in dispute was an estate, valued at one hundred thousand pounds, of which defendant was in possession. He held it by a will-- that of General Harding, his father, and former owner of the property-- made some twelve months before the General's death, and at the same time duly signed and attested.

It had been drawn up by a country attorney, named Woolet; and signed by himself and his clerk, acting as witnesses to the testator.

It gave the whole of General Harding's estate to his elder son, Nigel, with the exception of one thousand pounds, to his other and younger son, Henry, and an annuity of two hundred to the General's sister.

So far the doc.u.ment seemed quite correct--except in the strangeness of the unequal distribution. But there were reasons for this; and no one disputed the genuineness of the instrument. The question was one of an alleged later testament; which, if also proved genuine, would have the effect of setting aside Woolet's will, by a complete change of terms.

By the second will, the estate was bestowed on the younger son, and the one thousand pounds given to the elder!

The strange transposal was, however, coupled with a condition also strange. It appeared, by the citing of the second will, that the younger brother was abroad when it was made, and not only abroad, but supposed to be dead.

A doubt of his death must have been in the testator's mind, leading him to insert the condition: which was to the effect, that in the event of his younger son's return he was to enter upon quiet possession of the property--all of it, excepting the aforesaid legacy of one thousand pounds!

He had returned; at least, so alleged the plaintiff, who claimed to be Henry Harding, the legatee of the second will.

But he was not admitted into "quiet possession," according to the words of the will. On the contrary the case was going to be contested with all the legal strength and strategy that on both aides could be brought to bear upon it.