“‘Yes, I dare say you had forgotten all about such a trivial little circumstance; but I want you to tell the jury what object you had in view when you paid ten dollars for a copy of Mr. Bramlett’s will.’
“‘I cannot remember precisely what I did want with the copy, but I suppose I was prompted by sheer curiosity.’
“‘Is this the copy of the will that you received from New York?’
“Lottie handed her a large bundle of papers, containing at least a dozen sheets of paper covered with writing, the last one being sealed with red wax, to which was attached a blue ribbon, just below the notary’s signature.
“‘This looks very much like the copy I received, though I could not swear positively that it was the identical document. If it is the same paper, some thief has stolen it from my bureau drawer; and I should like very much to know how you got possession of it.’
“‘I dare say you would, and I promise that you shall know all about it very soon. Who, under Bolivar Bramlett, would inherit his immense wealth, if Miss Bramlett and her brother had both died childless?’
“‘I believe it would have come to my husband.’
“‘Don’t you know it would?’
“‘Then your husband would have been the possessor of a very large fortune, if those two children had died childless?’