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Sir Peter roused himself and looked forth, "After all," said he, cheerily, "the vale of tears is not without a smile." A FAMILY council was held at Exmundham Hall to deliberate on the name by which this remarkable infant should be admitted into the Christian community. The junior branches of that ancient house consisted, first, of the obnoxious heir-at-law a Scotch branch named Chillingly Gordon.
The Countess would receive that to which she would be entitled as widow, the daughter would be the heir-at-law to the bulk of the personal property, and the Earl would merely claim any real estate, if, as was very doubtful, any real estate had been left in question.
Everything went to the heir-at-law pictures, plate, horses and carriages, and those wonderful cellars of old wine which had been slowly accumulated by Sir Reginald's father and grandfather. Reginald Palliser passed from the pittance of a half-pay captain, eked out by the desultory donations of his open-handed nephew, to the possession of a fine income and a perfectly-appointed establishment.
The idea had never occurred to him that, even were the sale complete, he might still inherit the property as his uncle's heir-at-law, and that he would do so unless his uncle had already bequeathed it to his son. But the attorney soon put him right. The sale had not been yet made. He, Ralph, had not signed a single legal document to that effect.
I do not think that in all his life Philip Jocelyn had ever directly or indirectly caused a pang of pain or sorrow to any human being, unless it was, indeed, to a churlish heir-at-law, who may have looked with a somewhat evil eye upon the young man's vigorous and healthful aspect, which gave little hope to his possible successor.
When I was last in England, I saw an account in the newspapers of the death of the surviving children of your father's elder brother, and now he himself has followed them to the grave. As far, therefore, as I can learn, you are heir-at-law to the title and estates of Lord Heatherly." I almost lost my breath as I listened to this information. I could scarcely indeed believe it.
"I am his heir-at-law," thought Lumley. "Why, /no/, my dear sir no, I think not, unless he expresses a desire to see him; doubtless my poor uncle has already settled his worldly affairs. What is his state?" The doctor shook his head. "I will speak to you, sir, after you have left his lordship." "What is the matter there?" cried the patient, sharply and querulously.
I once saw him act Falstaff in a country house, and I doubt if Quin could have acted it better. Well, when Willy was still a mere boy, he lost his mother, the actress. Sir Julian married had a legitimate daughter died intestate and the daughter, of course, had the personal property, which was not much; the heir-at-law got the land, and poor Willy nothing.
At first the Prefect's Council declared itself incompetent to deal with the case, and when it was sent back to it by the Council of State, it rendered a judgment by which the town was condemned to pay the hundred thousand francs and the heir-at-law to finish the church. At the same time the vestry was put out of court.
Endless lawsuits had already begun; the contractor, who had only received two hundred thousand francs for the five hundred thousand francs' worth of work which had been executed, had taken proceedings against Abbe Peyramale's heir-at-law, the vestry, and the town, for the last still refused to pay over the amount which it had voted.
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