n at the
age of twenty-one, the lawyer proceeded to give a brief abstract of the
terms of the elder Mr. Blanchard's will. The claims of male issue were,
as is not unusual in such cases, preferred to the claims of female
issue. Failing Arthur and his issue male, the estate was left to Henry
and his issue male. Failing them, it went to the issue male of Henry's
sister; and, in default of such issue, to the next heir male. As events
had happened, the two young men, Arthur and John, had died unmarried,
and Henry Blanchard had died, leaving no surviving child but a daughter.
Under these circumstances, Allan was the next heir male pointed at by
the will, and was now legally successor to the Thorpe Ambrose estate.
Having made this extraordinary announcement, the lawyer requested to be
favored with Mr. Armadale's instructions, and added, in conclusion, that
he would be happy to furnish any further particulars that were desired.

It was useless to waste time in wondering at an event which neither
Allan nor his mother had ever thought of as even remotely possible. The
only thing to be done was to go back to England at once. The next day
found the travelers installed once more in their London hotel, and the
day after the affair was placed in the proper professional hands. The
inevitable corresponding and consulting ensued, and one by one the
all-important particulars flowed in, until the measure of information
was pronounced to be full.

This was the strange story of the three deaths:

At the time when Mr. Brock had written to Mrs. Armadale's relatives to
announce the news of her decease (that is to say, in the middle of
the month of January), the family at Thorpe Ambrose numbered five
persons--Arthur Blanchard (in possession of the estate), living in the
great house with his mother; and Henry Blanchard, the uncle, living in
the neighborhood, a widower with two children, a son and a daughter. To
cement the family connection still more closely, Arthur Blanchard was
engaged to be married to his cousin. The wedding was to be celebrated
with great local rejoicings in the coming summer, when the young lady
had completed her twentieth year.

The month of February had brought changes with it in the family
position. Observing signs of delicacy in the health of his son, Mr.
Henry Blanchard left Norfolk, taking the young man with him, under
medical advice, to try the climate of Italy. Early in the ensuing month
of March, Arthur Blanchar