Salome's lips closed. She looked at Philip, but said nothing. She had made her protest. One on this occasion would be superfluous.
'We desire in every way to act according to the wishes of my darling brother, whom it has pleased a beneficent Providence'—she wiped her eyes—'to remove from this vale of tears. As his sister, knowing his inmost thoughts, the disposition of his most sacred wishes, his only confidant in the close of life, I may say I know what his intentions were as well as if he had left a will.'
'There is a will,' said Salome quietly.
'A will!—Where?'
'In my workbox.'
A silence ensued. Mrs. Sidebottom looked very blank.
'On the very night he died he gave it me to keep, and I put it away in my workbox, as I had nothing else that locked up. My workbox is in my room upstairs. Shall I fetch the will?'
'No,' said Philip, 'let it stay where it is till after the funeral.'
CHAPTER XII.
SURPRISES.