"And the will?" whispered Mrs. Frederic, eagerly. "Have you found out anything about that?"
Mrs. Liddell shook her head. "I have not even asked, so sure am I that it will not affect us in any way. Mr. Newton is now examining the bureau where my brother-in-law appears to have kept all his papers, hoping to find the will."
"Is it not cruel to think of all this wealth passing away from us?" cried the little woman, in a tearful tone.
"I do not suppose that John Liddell was wealthy," said Mrs. Liddell. "He was very careful of what he had, but it does not follow that he had a great deal."
"Oh, nonsense! My dear Mrs. Liddell, you only say that to keep us quiet. Misers always have heaps of money. What do you say, Katherine?"
"That from all I saw I should say he was not rich. He never mentioned large sums of money, or—"
"I do not mind you," interrupted the young widow. "You always affect to despise money."
"Indeed I do not, Ada. I am only afraid of thinking too much of it." Katherine perceived that her mother had wisely abstained from telling the whole circumstances to this most impulsive young person.
"And do you mean to say," pursued Mrs. Frederic, who could hardly keep still, so great was her excitement, "that the horrid lawyer is rummaging through the old man's papers all alone? You ought to be present, Mrs. Liddell. You don't know what tricks he may play. He may put a will in his own favor in some drawer. It is very weak not to have insisted on being present, and shows such indifference to our interests!"
"I am not afraid of Mr. Newton forging a will," said Mrs. Liddell, smiling; "and I greatly fear that whoever may profit by the old man's last testament, we will not. But I assure you Mr. Newton did ask me to assist in the search, and I declined. Indeed I asked him not to search while the poor remains were unburied."