The door had hardly closed upon him before she was at the telephone calling Eaton, and in half an hour he was at the house. Harlowe’s words had so bitten into her memory that she was able to repeat them almost verbatim. Eaton listened with his usual composure. It might have seemed from his manner that he was more interested in Nan herself than in her recital. She betrayed no excitement, but described the interview colorlessly as though speaking of matters that did not wholly concern her. When she concluded Eaton chuckled softly.
“You’re taking it nobly,” were his first words; “I’m proud of you! You see, I had expected something of the sort—prepared for it, in fact, right after this fellow got that thousand dollars out of you. He’s crafty, shrewd, unscrupulous. But you have nothing to worry over. He came to you first and at the earliest possible moment in the hope of frightening you as he did before, hoping that you’d persuade Thurston to settle with him. As for Farley’s incompetence to make a will, that’s all rubbish! His mother suffered from senile dementia—no symptoms until she was nearly ninety. Every business man in town would laugh at the idea that Tim Farley wasn’t sane. He was just a little bit saner than most men. His occasional fits of anger were only the expression of his vigorous personality; wholly characteristic; nothing in that for Harlowe to hang a case on.
“But this point about the adoption is more serious. When I was down there watching Harlowe defend the man he pretended to you—but to nobody else—was your brother, I looked up those adoption proceedings, out of sheer vulgar curiosity. The law provides that adoption proceedings shall be brought in the county where the child resides, and that the parents appear in court and consent. Your parents were dead, and Mr. Farley’s petition was filed in this county after you had been a member of his household for fully two years.
“I seriously debated mentioning these points to Thurston, after my visit down there, but on reflection decided against it. Contrary to the common assumption the law is not an ass—not altogether! I can’t imagine the courts countenancing an effort to set aside this adoption on so flimsy a pretext. Mr. Farley not only complied with the law to the best of his belief, but let the world in general understand that he looked on you as his child and heir.”
“That’s what every one believed, of course,” Nan murmured.
“I dare say there’s a will,” Eaton continued. “Thurston may have to defend that—but you may rely on him. I have already made an appointment to meet him at luncheon to turn over to him all my data. I’ll say to you in all sincerity that I don’t see the slightest cause for uneasiness. If there’s a valid will, that settles the adoption line of attack, though this man may go the length of trying to annul it on the insanity plea, merely to tie up the estate until you pay something to these cousins to get rid of him.”
“There is a will; there are a number of them, I think,” said Nan soberly.
“Mr. Farley told you about them—let you know what he was doing?”
“No; he never spoke of them, except in general terms. I used to see him hiding them; once one dropped out of his dressing-gown.” She hesitated; then added quickly: “I read that one before putting it back. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I did—as I’ve done a good many things these last two years I shouldn’t!”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself! It was quite natural for you to look at it.”