“This is Mrs. Kane?” he asked, with an interlocutory jerk of his head.
“Yes,” replied Jennie.
“I am, as you see by my card, Mr. O’Brien, of Knight, Keatley & O’Brien,” he began. “We are the attorneys and executors of the late Mr. Kane, your—ah—Mr. Kane’s father. You’ll think it’s rather curious, my coming to you, but under your husband’s father’s will there were certain conditions stipulated which affect you and Mr. Kane very materially. These provisions are so important that I think you ought to know about them—that is if Mr. Kane hasn’t already told you. I—pardon me—but the peculiar nature of them makes me conclude that—possibly—he hasn’t.” He paused, a very question-mark of a man—every feature of his face an interrogation.
“I don’t quite understand,” said Jennie. “I don’t know anything about the will. If there’s anything that I ought to know, I suppose Mr. Kane will tell me. He hasn’t told me anything as yet.”
“Ah!” breathed Mr. O’Brien, highly gratified. “Just as I thought. Now, if you will allow me I’ll go into the matter briefly. Then you can judge for yourself whether you wish to hear the full particulars. Won’t you sit down?” They had both been standing. Jennie seated herself, and Mr. O’Brien pulled up a chair near to hers.
“Now to begin,” he said. “I need not say to you, of course, that there was considerable opposition on the part of Mr. Kane’s father, to this—ah—union between yourself and his son.”
“I know—” Jennie started to say, but checked herself. She was puzzled, disturbed, and a little apprehensive.
“Before Mr. Kane senior died,” he went on, “he indicated to your—ah—to Mr. Lester Kane, that he felt this way. In his will he made certain conditions governing the distribution of his property which made it rather hard for his son, your—ah—husband, to come into his rightful share. Ordinarily, he would have inherited one-fourth of the Kane Manufacturing Company, worth to-day in the neighborhood of a million dollars, perhaps more; also one-fourth of the other properties, which now aggregate something like five hundred thousand dollars. I believe Mr. Kane senior was really very anxious that his son should inherit this property. But owing to the conditions which your—ah—which Mr. Kane’s father made, Mr. Lester Kane cannot possibly obtain his share, except by complying with a—with a—certain wish which his father had expressed.”
Mr. O’Brien paused, his eyes moving back and forth side wise in their sockets. In spite of the natural prejudice of the situation, he was considerably impressed with Jennie’s pleasing appearance. He could see quite plainly why Lester might cling to her in the face of all opposition. He continued to study her furtively as he sat there waiting for her to speak.
“And what was that wish?” she finally asked, her nerves becoming just a little tense under the strain of the silence.