“You have certainly surprised me,” she added, slightly shrugging her shoulders. “Though why I should feel surprise, I cannot tell. It is absurd, I have no doubt. So Miss Turquand has become a young woman of property. I long ago was determined not to be astonished at anything, and I take a fresh resolution from to-night. Was the person who left her this money a relative?”
“No.”
“Not a relative! May I ask what——Am I indiscreet in asking for any particulars?”
Paul Desfrayne knew that sooner or later his mother must become acquainted with everything that the will contained. It was better to take things with a good grace, and let her hear now, than to shrink and keep silence, or grant half-confidences, and make bad worse, by appearing to make a mystery of what was apparently a simple matter.
“The old gentleman of whom I was speaking to you last night—Mr. Vere Gardiner—has left Miss Turquand one hundred and thirty thousand pounds unconditionally. He has left me ten thousand in the same way, but——”
With an effort he rapidly told her the general contents of the will.
“You marry Miss Turquand!” almost angrily cried Mrs. Desfrayne, flirting her fan backward and forward with a nervous movement. She had seated herself, in her agitation, while Paul remained standing a few steps from her.
“Such are the terms of the will. If she dies before the three years have expired, I am to receive—I forget how many thousands.”
“Have you seen her?”
“I have.”