"And down the sunny beach she paces slowly,With many doubtful pauses by the way;Grief hath an influence so hush"d and holy."
HOOD.
"Is not Margaret the heiress?" whispered Edith to her husband, as theywere in their room alone at night after the sad journey to Oxford. Shehad pulled his tall head down, and stood upon tiptoe, and implored himnot to be shocked, before she had ventured to ask this question. CaptainLennox was, however, quite in the dark; if he had ever heard, he hadforgotten; it could not be much that a Fellow of a small college had toleave; but he had never wanted her to pay for her board; and twohundred and fifty pounds a year was something ridiculous, consideringthat she did not take wine. Edith came down upon her feet a little bitsadder; with a romance blown to pieces.
A week afterwards, she came prancing towards her husband, and madehim a low curtsey:
"I am right, and you are wrong, most noble Captain. Margaret has had alawyer"s letter, and she is residuary legatee--the legacies being abouttwo thousand pounds, and the remainder about forty thousand, at thepresent value of property in Milton."
"Indeed! and how does she take her good fortune?"
"Oh, it seems she knew she was to have it all along; only she had noidea it was so much. She looks very white and pale, and says she"safraid of it; but that"s nonsense, you know, and will soon go off. I leftmamma pouring congratulations down her throat, and stole away to tellyou."
It seemed to be supposed, by general consent, that the most naturalthing was to consider Mr. Lennox henceforward as Margaret"s legaladviser. She was so entirely ignorant of all forms of business that innearly everything she had to refer to him. He chose out her attorney; hecame to her with papers to be signed. He was never so happy as whenteaching her of what all these mysteries of the law were the signs andtypes.
"Henry," said Edith, one day, archly; "do you know what I hope andexpect all these long conversations with Margaret will end in?"
"No, I don"t," said he, reddening. "And I desire you not to tell me."