This last will left everything to Ada Calmour, absolutely and unconditionally, and was the outcome of Mr Calmour’s discovery that he had been duped and fooled. He was altogether so excited at this revelation that he was visited by a stroke, and died without being able to impart his knowledge to anyone who would have helped to see justice done to his daughter.
Mrs Carlile was a visitor in the house at the time. She obtained possession of Mr Calmour’s last will, and declined to give it up when asked to do so by the supposed widow, as she was quite aware of the power its possession gave her. The Carliles had lived quite luxuriously at Mrs Calmour’s expense, but had found it necessary to threaten exposure lately, as they had become suspicious of her intention to realise all she could, and levant with her lawful husband.
The reader can guess the rest. Mr and Mrs Churchill are installed in their own again. Even the land nominally sold to the man calling himself Selby is restored to them, as the transfer was a palpably fraudulent transaction between him and his wife, who had no legal power to sell.
The Carliles have deemed it wise to emigrate. I wish I could add that the Selbys had been duly punished for their misdeeds. But Mrs Churchill did not care to expose her poor father’s weakness too widely, and has let them go scot free.
For anything I know to the contrary, they have reverted to their former farcical pretence of being a guardian of his rich genius of a ward. Certain it is, that wherever they are, they are swindling somebody, and I would earnestly warn my readers against trusting the unsupported testimony of a plausible, gentlemanly fellow who wants to engage costly board and lodgings for his lady friend, whom he endows with the additional recommendation of being about to outstrip her pretended talented relations in the race for fame.
V. Acquaintance Dodge
Yes, it was undoubtedly the same woman. I had seen her before, and knew her to be of very equivocal character. Nay, I will go a step further, and assure my readers that she was a person of very disreputable antecedents, and had recently served a term of imprisonment in consequence of certain disclosures for which our firm was responsible.
Her penchant for frequent changes of names made it difficult to follow her career. But the last name under which I had known her was Angelina Dyer, and as Angelina Dyer she was convicted of assisting at the operations of a gang of burglars, of whom I have an exciting story to tell some day.
Knowing the true character of this woman, therefore, it caused me no small surprise to see her talking to Mr Lanimore, one of our city aldermen, whom I would have deemed one of the last individuals in the world to have dealings with Angelina Dyer.
My curiosity was aroused. I determined to see the farce to the end, and for the present relinquished my intention of taking a hansom to Liverpool-street Station, whither I was bent on a mission that could easily wait for another opportunity.