“Yes,” she sighed, at last, as she gathered up and retied the letters together, “I am afraid it is all true.”
A sinister, avaricious light sprang into the eyes of her companion as she made this admission.
“Still,” she thoughtfully resumed, “I do not see how it can very materially affect my position. I was reared as my father’s own child; all the world knows it; and the will which he made, naming me as his heiress, must stand.”
“Mrs. Brewster and her daughter will contest that will,” briefly observed John Hubbard.
“How can they? Was it not legally drawn? If it was not, then you are responsible for its invalidity,” sharply retorted Allison.
“Certainly it was legally drawn; there is no flaw in it,” was the dignified response, although the man flushed guiltily as he recalled that Sunday morning which he had spent in the bank the previous winter. “But, according to certain laws, a man has no right to make a will ignoring any of his heirs, and if, either by oversight or design, he does so, the will can be broken. Consequently, Mrs. Brewster has informed me that she should bring a suit against her late husband’s estate, and demand recognition of her position and rights.”
“And, in view of that threat, have not you, as my guardian, done anything to protect my interests?” demanded Allison, with some warmth.
“Certainly, Miss Brewster; I have done a great deal. I have staved off proceedings, for one thing, hoping that we might compromise matters, and so settle everything quietly, without a trial and a scandal. This could have been done if—if my plans had worked,” said the crafty man, with a reproachful look and sigh. “But now I think Mrs. Brewster will press her claims. She will try to break the will, asserting that you have no right to anything, while she, being the legal wife, and her child, the only legitimate heir, are justly entitled to everything.”
“Oh, will poor, dear mama’s name have to be dragged before the public? Will this claimant try to prove that mama was never legally married to papa?” exclaimed Allison, in deep distress, her face crimsoning with shame at the thought of having that lovely and sainted woman’s reputation so trailed in the dust.