“Yes—I don’t know whether you ought—no. But I want you to know. I’ve confidence in your judgment, my dear.”
“Oh, uncle Robert! As though your own were not a thousand times better!”
“In matters of business it may be. But this is quite another thing. You see, there are a good many who ought to have a share, and a good many who expect some of it, whether they have any claim or not. I want to know if you think I’ve acted fairly by everybody. Will you tell me, quite honestly? Nobody else would—except Katharine Ralston, perhaps.”
“But I don’t want to be made the judge of your actions, dear uncle Robert!” protested Katharine.
“Well—make a sacrifice, then, and do something you don’t like,” answered the old man, gruffly.
It would have pleased Doctor Routh to see how soon his temper rose at the merest sign of opposition.
“Well—tell me, then,” said Katharine, reluctantly.
“It’s a simple will,” began the old man, and then he paused, as though reflecting upon it. “Well—you see,” he continued, presently, “I argued in this way. I said to myself that the money ought either to go back to its original source—I’ve thought a great deal about that, too, and I’ve made sketches of wills leaving everything to the poor, in a big trust—I suppose every rich man has made rough sketches of queer wills at one time or another.” He paused a moment and seemed to be thinking. “Yes,” he resumed, presently, “either it should go back to the people, or else it ought to go amongst the Lauderdales, as directly as possible. Now there’s my brother, first—your grandfather. He’s older than I am, but he’s careless and foolish about money. He’d give it all away—better leave something to his asylums and things, and give him an income but no capital. He doesn’t want anything for himself—he’s a good man, and I wish I were like him. Then there’s your father, next, and Katharine Ralston—my nephew and niece. They don’t want a lot of money, either, do they?”
Katharine’s eyes expressed a little astonishment in spite of herself, and the old man saw it. He hesitated a while, coughed, cleared his throat, and then seemed to make up his mind.
“It’s been my opinion for a long time,” he said, slowly, “that your father has a good deal of his own.”