“I should like to read the will myself,” he said, after a pause. “Where is it now?”
“Mrs. Crawford has charge of it.”
Reuben Ashcroft remained silent, but his mind was busy.
“That woman is a genius of craft,” he said to himself. “My poor friend is but a child in her hands. I did not know Paul would be so pitiably weak.”
“How do you happen to be here in Edgewood, Reuben?” asked the doctor.
“I had a little errand in the next town, and could not resist the temptation of visiting you.”
“You can stay a day or two, can you not?”
“I will, though I had not expected to do so.”
“Mrs. Crawford is away this afternoon. She will be back presently, and then I will introduce you.”
At five o’clock Mrs. Crawford returned, and her husband introduced her to his friend.