Blessings!' He glanced down into Stella's wrathful eyes, and said softly: 'That will teach you to say damn you to me, my sweet, won't it?'
Under cover of Mrs Lupton's and Miss Matthews' voices, both uplifted in indignant speech, Stella said: 'You're a rotten cad!'
He laughed. 'Temper, Stella, temper!'
'I wish to God you'd get out, and stay out!'
'Think how dull you'd be without me,' he said, turning away. 'Dear, dear, surely my beloved aunts are not quarrelling?'
The dispute ended abruptly. 'Do you mean to stay to tea, Randall?' snapped Miss Matthews.
'No, Stella has expressed a wish that I should get out and stay out,' replied Randall, quite without rancour.
'Stella, dear! I'm sure you didn't mean that,' Mrs Matthews said.
'What a thing it is to be head of the family!' murmured Randall. 'I am becoming popular.' With which parting shot he blew a kiss to the assembled company, and walked out of the room.
He left behind him a feeling of tension which the succeeding days did nothing to allay. The family was uneasy, and the intelligence, conveyed to Stella by Dr Fielding, that the organs of Gregory Matthews' body had been sent to the Home Office for analysis was not reassuring. The suspense set everyone's nerves on edge, and the visit of Mr Giles Carrington, of the firm of Carrington, Radclyffe, and Carrington, to read the Will on Friday had the effect of causing a great deal of pent-up emotion to explode.
Everyone had nursed expectations; everyone, except Randall, was disappointed. Mrs Lupton was left a thousand pounds only, and an oil painting of her brother which she neither liked nor had room for on her already overcrowded walls, and was inclined to regard it as an added injury that she was referred to in the Will as Gregory's beloved sister Gertrude. Neither of her daughters was mentioned, and it was insufficient consolation to discover that Guy had been similarly ignored. Stella, in a codicil dated three weeks previously, was to receive two thousand pounds upon her twenty-fifth birthday on condition that she was not at that time either betrothed or married to Dr Fielding. The bulk of the estate was inherited by Randall, but a disastrous provision had been made for Mrs Matthews, and for Harriet. Gregory Matthews, with what both ladies could only feel to have been malicious spite, had bequeathed to them jointly his house and all that was in it with a sum sufficient for its upkeep to be administered by his two executors, Randall and Giles Carrington.
While Giles Carrington, who was a stranger to them, was present the various members of the family had for decency's sake to control their feelings, but no sooner had he departed than Mrs Lupton set the ball rolling by saying: 'Well, no one need think that I am in any way surprised, for I am not. Gregory never showed the faintest consideration for anyone during his lifetime, and it would be idle to suppose that he would change in death.'
Randall raised his brows at this, and mildly remarked: 'This document is not a communication from the Other Side, I can assure you, aunt'
'I am well aware of that, thank you, Randall. Nor would it astonish me to learn that you had a great deal to do with the drawing-up of the Will. To refer to me as his beloved sister, and then to leave me a portrait of himself which I never admired and do not want makes me suspect strongly that you had a finger in the pie.'
'Perhaps,' said Stella, looking him in the eye, 'it was you who had this bright notion of leaving me two thousand pounds with strings tied to it?'
'Darling, I wouldn't have left you a penny,' replied Randall lovingly.
'That would suit me just as well,' said Stella. 'I don't want his filthy two thousand, and I wouldn't touch it if I were starving!'
Agues Crewe, who had come down with her husband to hear the Will read, said:. 'I didn't expect uncle to remember me in his Will, but I must admit that it does upset me to think that Baby is not even mentioned. After all, the mite is
Under cover of Mrs Lupton's and Miss Matthews' voices, both uplifted in indignant speech, Stella said: 'You're a rotten cad!'
He laughed. 'Temper, Stella, temper!'
'I wish to God you'd get out, and stay out!'
'Think how dull you'd be without me,' he said, turning away. 'Dear, dear, surely my beloved aunts are not quarrelling?'
The dispute ended abruptly. 'Do you mean to stay to tea, Randall?' snapped Miss Matthews.
'No, Stella has expressed a wish that I should get out and stay out,' replied Randall, quite without rancour.
'Stella, dear! I'm sure you didn't mean that,' Mrs Matthews said.
'What a thing it is to be head of the family!' murmured Randall. 'I am becoming popular.' With which parting shot he blew a kiss to the assembled company, and walked out of the room.
He left behind him a feeling of tension which the succeeding days did nothing to allay. The family was uneasy, and the intelligence, conveyed to Stella by Dr Fielding, that the organs of Gregory Matthews' body had been sent to the Home Office for analysis was not reassuring. The suspense set everyone's nerves on edge, and the visit of Mr Giles Carrington, of the firm of Carrington, Radclyffe, and Carrington, to read the Will on Friday had the effect of causing a great deal of pent-up emotion to explode.
Everyone had nursed expectations; everyone, except Randall, was disappointed. Mrs Lupton was left a thousand pounds only, and an oil painting of her brother which she neither liked nor had room for on her already overcrowded walls, and was inclined to regard it as an added injury that she was referred to in the Will as Gregory's beloved sister Gertrude. Neither of her daughters was mentioned, and it was insufficient consolation to discover that Guy had been similarly ignored. Stella, in a codicil dated three weeks previously, was to receive two thousand pounds upon her twenty-fifth birthday on condition that she was not at that time either betrothed or married to Dr Fielding. The bulk of the estate was inherited by Randall, but a disastrous provision had been made for Mrs Matthews, and for Harriet. Gregory Matthews, with what both ladies could only feel to have been malicious spite, had bequeathed to them jointly his house and all that was in it with a sum sufficient for its upkeep to be administered by his two executors, Randall and Giles Carrington.
While Giles Carrington, who was a stranger to them, was present the various members of the family had for decency's sake to control their feelings, but no sooner had he departed than Mrs Lupton set the ball rolling by saying: 'Well, no one need think that I am in any way surprised, for I am not. Gregory never showed the faintest consideration for anyone during his lifetime, and it would be idle to suppose that he would change in death.'
Randall raised his brows at this, and mildly remarked: 'This document is not a communication from the Other Side, I can assure you, aunt'
'I am well aware of that, thank you, Randall. Nor would it astonish me to learn that you had a great deal to do with the drawing-up of the Will. To refer to me as his beloved sister, and then to leave me a portrait of himself which I never admired and do not want makes me suspect strongly that you had a finger in the pie.'
'Perhaps,' said Stella, looking him in the eye, 'it was you who had this bright notion of leaving me two thousand pounds with strings tied to it?'
'Darling, I wouldn't have left you a penny,' replied Randall lovingly.
'That would suit me just as well,' said Stella. 'I don't want his filthy two thousand, and I wouldn't touch it if I were starving!'
Agues Crewe, who had come down with her husband to hear the Will read, said:. 'I didn't expect uncle to remember me in his Will, but I must admit that it does upset me to think that Baby is not even mentioned. After all, the mite is
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