“I have a conscience, my dear, on this matter,” said an old gentleman to a young lady, as the two were sitting in the breakfast parlour of a country house which looked down from the cliffs over the se...

When Mr. Indefer Jones spoke of living for two years, he spoke more hopefully of himself than the doctor was wont to speak to Isabel. The doctor from Carmarthen visited Llanfeare twice a week, and hav...

Cousin Henry found his position to be difficult and precarious. That suggestion of his uncle’s⁠—or rather assertion⁠—that he could still change his mind was disagreeable. No doubt he could do so, and,...

With a sore heart Isabel went her way to Hereford⁠—troubled because she saw nothing but sorrow and vexation in store for her uncle. “I know that I am getting weaker every day,” he said. And yet it was...

Isabel, when she was left alone, felt that a terrible weight of duty was imposed on her. She seemed to be immediately encompassed by a double world of circumstances. There was that world of grief whic...

The reader need not be detained with any elaborate account of the funeral. Every tenant and every labourer about the place was there; as also were many of the people from Carmarthen. Llanfeare Church,...

The search was carried on up to nine o’clock that evening, and then Mr. Apjohn returned to Carmarthen, explaining that he would send out two men to continue the work on the Tuesday, and that he would ...

On the whole of the next day the search was continued. In spite of his late watches, Cousin Henry rose up early, not looking at anything that was being done while the search was continued in other roo...

On the day after the reading of the will, Henry Indefer Jones, Esq., of Llanfeare, as he was now to be called, was left alone in his house, his cousin Isabel having taken her departure from the place ...

From what had passed with Mrs. Griffith, it was clear to Cousin Henry that he must go out of the house and be seen about the place. The woman had been right in saying that his seclusion was mysterious...

Isabel had not been many hours at home at Hereford before, as was natural, her father discussed with her the affairs of the property and her own peculiar interest in the will which had at last been ac...

In this way Isabel spent four very uncomfortable weeks in her new home before Mr. Owen returned to Hereford. Nor was her discomfort much relieved by the prospect of his return. She knew all the detail...

There was a great deal said at Carmarthen about the old Squire’s will. Such scenes as that which had taken place in the house, first when the will was produced, then when the search was made, and afte...

When the man had asked him that question⁠—Is there any secret you can tell?⁠—Cousin Henry did, for half a minute, make up his mind to tell the whole story, and reveal everything as it had occurred. Th...

When Mr. Apjohn had gone, Cousin Henry sat for an hour, not thinking⁠—men so afflicted have generally lost the power to think⁠—but paralysed by the weight of his sorrow, simply repeating to himself as...

Some of the people at Carmarthen were taking a great deal of trouble about the matter. One copy of the Herald was sent regularly to Mr. Brodrick, another to Isabel, and another to Mr. Owen. It was det...

A month had been left for Cousin Henry to consider what he would do⁠—a month from the day in which he had been forced to accede to Mr. Apjohn’s proposal up to that on which he would have to stand befo...

On his return from London Mr. Apjohn wrote the following letter to his client, and this he sent to Llanfeare by a clerk, who was instructed to wait there for an answer:⁠— My dear Sir⁠— I have just ret...

The last words in the last chapter were spoken by Mr. Apjohn to his confidential clerk in a tone of triumph. He had picked up something further, and, conscious that he had done so by his own ingenuity...

“I know nothing about it,” Cousin Henry had gasped out when asked by Mr. Apjohn, when Ricketts, the clerk, had left the room, whether he knew where the will was hidden. Then, when he had declared he h...

Early on the Wednesday morning Mr. Apjohn and Mr. Brodrick were on foot, and preparing for the performance of their very disagreeable day’s work. Mr. Brodrick did not believe at all in the day’s work,...

It was a moment of great triumph and of utter dismay⁠—of triumph to Mr. Apjohn, and of dismay to Cousin Henry. The two men at this moment⁠—as Mr. Brodrick was looking at the papers⁠—were struggling to...

The news was soon all about Carmarthen. A new will had been found, in accordance with which Miss Brodrick was to become owner of Llanfeare, and⁠—which was of more importance to Carmarthen at the prese...

Isabel spent one pleasant week with her lover at Hereford, and then was summoned into Carmarthenshire. Mr. Apjohn came over at her father’s invitation, and insisted on taking her back to Llanfeare. “T...