Jerrold, who was pale and silent. He was
usually a grave and quiet person, and so governed by system, that the
very hairs on his head might have been said to be arranged numerically.
"Here's a pretty thing come to pass!" he exclaimed, throwing a bundle
of papers on the table; "a most beautiful kettle of fish. The last
will and testament of the deceased is missing. Yes, sirs! can't be
found. May, who was in your uncle's room the last night he lived? I
say _then_, because the closet in which the will was placed was locked
then, and the key has been in my pocket ever since. Who was there?"
"_I_ was there, sir," said May, astonished at the uproar.
"Who else?"
"Helen was there for a little while."
"Who else?"
"The doctor came at eleven o'clock."
"The doctor didn't steal the will. Are you sure no one else came in
afterwards?"
"Father Fabian administered the Holy Viaticum to my uncle. After that,
no one except Helen and myself were there."
"Were you awake all the time?'
"I think not, sir. I believe I slept about ten minutes."
"Why didn't you sleep ten years, May?" exclaimed the irritated lawyer.
"And you, Miss Stillinghast, please to state what occurred while your
cousin slept. I suppose you kept awake, as you have heavy interests at
stake?"
"Mr. Fielding, this lady is my affianced wife; oblige me by assuming a
more gentle tone," said Walter Jerrold, taking his stand beside Helen.
"If she was your grandmother, sir, this matter must be sifted; and let
me tell you, not only sifted here, but in open court, whither I shall
carry it, unless the will is forthcoming.
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