horrid thing keep for an hour?"
"My dear," said Dimbal, taking the girl's hand in his own, "let me make myself quite clear. I am here to impress upon you the terms of your father's will, which, as you know, has been in my possession since you were a baby, and to hand to you a sealed letter which he left for you. Until this is done, I cannot eat my meal in comfort."
"A sealed letter?" queried Olive, leading the way into the drawing-room; "why was it not given to me before?"
"Because your father's instructions were that you were not to have possession of this letter until after the arrival of Mr. Carson in England. Well, Mr. Carson has arrived. He was in my office yesterday; so, you see, I have lost no time."
Olive sat down and took off her sun-bonnet. She looked put out. "I know that Mr. Carson is in England," she said; "I got a letter from him three or four days ago, in which he says he is coming down here at the end of the week."
"Oh, well, I hope you are pleased," said Dimbal, looking dubiously at her. The kind-hearted little lawyer feared, from her expression that she was not.
"No, Mr. Dimbal," replied the girl, decidedly. "I cannot pretend that I am. You must remember I have never seen the man. Indeed, I do not want to see him, and I am very sure I do not want to marry him."
"But you must marry him, Olive."
"I don't see that I must marry anybody I don't like. I am sure I shall hate him!"
"My dear, you really must not talk like that. Remember you lose a large sum of money if you do not fulfil the conditions of the will."
"I would rather lose anything than marry him," said Olive, recklessly. "I don't love the man; why, I have never seen him; how can you--how could papa expect me to marry him? He may be horrid--indeed, I am sure he is horrid."
"Mr. Carson is a very charming and handsome young man," was Dimbal's reply, as he opened his bag. "You will find that he is everything your heart can desire."
"My heart does not desire him at all. I object to being married without being consulted."
"But Olive--dear child, remember, you loved your father!"
"Yes"--the girl's face grew very tender, "my father was the dearest and best of men. I loved him very dearly--better than any one else in the world. You know I love his memory still."
"Then you will surely obey his last expressed wish?" said Dimbal, persuasively. "In that way alone can you show your love and affection for him."
"Mr. Bellairs's heart was set upon your marrying the son of his oldest and best friend."
"Where is this letter, Mr. Dimbal?" asked Olive, irrelevantly.
"All in good time, my dear. Let me first explain the will to you."
"Do you wish Miss Slarge to be present?" said Olive, as the lawyer spread out the formidable parchment.
"Oh, that is not necessary. I suppose she is busy?"
Olive shrugged her pretty shoulders. "She is hunting, I believe, through Layard's Nineveh in search of Nimrod," she answered. "Lucky Aunt Rubina, she hasn't got to marry a man she doesn't care two pins about."
"I don't suppose Miss Slarge would marry any one, my dear. She has always been the consistent advocate of celibacy."
"I only wish my father had been the same."
"Would that really please you?" said Dimbal; he knew a good deal more about Miss Olive's likes, if not about her dislikes, than she had any idea of. "I met Mr. Mallow at Reading Station," the artful lawyer continued, significantly.
"Oh!" said Olive, the colour mounting to her face.
"Yes; he has come down to stop for a week or two with Lord Aldean."
"I--I--well, I really don't care. Why do you look at me like that, Mr. Dimbal? Don't, please! Mr. Mallow is really nothing to me."
"Or you to Hecuba. Well, if you don't know, Olive, I'm sure I don't. Let us get to business. By this, my dear," he said, smoothing out the parchment, "you inherit all the real estate of your father, consisting of the house, lands, farms, tenements, etc., etc.--all of which combine to bring you in an income of some three thousand pounds per annum. Into possession of this you will enter upon your twenty-first birthday."
"That is next month," said Olive, nodding.
"Quite so. On August 24th you attain your majority. You will then receive your rents, and become absolute mistress of the estate."
"Without conditions?"
"Certainly--without conditions. Those of which I am about to speak apply only to the personal estate. This consists of some fifty thousand pounds, excellently well invested in railway stock and shares for the most part, though some small portion of it is in the Government funds. If within a month of your majority you become the wife of Angus Carson this money passes to your husband, and he is to use it for the benefit of you both."
"Oh, indeed and I have no say in the matter, I suppose?"
"Well, not legally speaking. Although Mr. Carson can only obtain this money by marrying you; that done, he has full legal possession of it; and, although there is no absolute charge upon the capital providing for it, there is a strong wish expressed by your father--so strong as to amount to an absolute obligation in the mind of any right-thinking man--that the sum of a thousand pounds per annum shall be set apart from out of the interest of this money by your husband for your own separate use. But of the principal, you understand, he has absolute control."
"But suppose Mr. Carson is a scamp and a spendthrift?"
"We will not suppose any such thing, my dear. I admit," added Dimbal, looking at the document--"I admit that the powers given to Mr. Carson are very great, and should perhaps have been controlled, if not restricted, in some measure--indeed, I suggested something of the sort to your father; but he contended you were amply provided for by the real estate, and he had every hope that young Mr. Carson would prove to be as good and as honourable a man as his father had been before him."
"What is your opinion of him?" asked Olive, abruptly.
"My dear, I saw Mr. Carson but for half an hour, so I can scarcely be expected to answer that question. He appeared to me to be an amiable and pleasant young gentleman, and I have no doubt he will make you an excellent husband."
"Oh, I dare say; that is, of course, provided I consent to marry him," said Miss Bellairs, tartly. "Well, Mr. Dimbal, thank you. I quite understand all you have told me. When I marry Mr. Carson, he gets fifty thousand pounds to do exactly as he likes with."
"Well, certainly that is one way of looking at it; but you must not forget that he is to pay you quarterly the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds," said Mr. Dimbal, hastily.
"Quite so. I get one thousand to his forty-nine!"
"No, no, my dear--not at all."
"Oh, well, in any case he has the best of it," said Olive, wilfully. "If he chooses to make ducks and drakes of the capital there will be but a small chance of my getting any income."
