Everything
that Fanny inherited from her father, old Aleck Minafer, had been
invested in Wilbur's business; and Wilbur's business, after a period
of illness corresponding in dates to the illness of Wilbur's body, had
died just before Wilbur did. George Amberson and Fanny were both
"wiped out to a miracle of precision," as Amberson said. They "owned
not a penny and owed not a penny," he continued, explaining his
phrase. "It's like the moment just before drowning: you're not under
water and you're not out of it. All you know is that you're not dead
yet."
He spoke philosophically, having his "prospects" from his father to
fall back upon; but Fanny had neither "prospects" nor philosophy.
However, a legal survey of Wilbur's estate revealed the fact that his
life insurance was left clear of the wreck; and Isabel, with the
cheerful consent of her son, promptly turned this salvage over to her
sister-in-law. Invested, it would yield something better than nine
hundred dollars a year, and thus she was assured of becoming neither a
pauper nor a dependent, but proved to be, as Amberson said, adding his
efforts to the cheering up of Fanny, "an heiress, after all, in spite
of rolling mills and the devil.
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