"That is true; but I think Major Grafton would be capable of it. I hear from my brother that he gambles, and a gambler is not apt to be overburdened with principle."
"If this is so, he ought to be exposed. To whom would the boy's fortune go, if it were known that he was dead?"
"To three cousins, who, I understand, are living in poverty in New York. There are two young girls and a brother, named Beaufort. They were cut off by the grandfather, from whom the fortune was inherited. For what reason I am not aware. However, the will stipulated that if the boy should die, the fortune should go to these children."
"Then they ought to be enjoying it now?"
"Exactly. If all is true that I suspect, they are being kept out of it by a conspiracy."
"Who is the boy that Major Grafton has with him now?"
"I don't know. Possibly it is a relative of his own. He calls him Philip to deceive the public, if all is as I suspect."
"Don't you think we ought to do something in the matter, Clara?"
"I never meddle with matters that don't concern me."
"Not even to right such a wrong as this?"