ulations were added to
these. She accepted them all; and measures were privately taken to have
her well looked after in the place of her retreat. What life she led
there, and whether she performed all the conditions imposed on her, I
cannot say. I can only tell you that she never, to my knowledge, came
to England; that she never annoyed Mr. Vanstone; and that the annual
allowance was paid her, through a local agent in America, to the day of
her death. All that she wanted in marrying him was money; and money she
got.

"In the meantime, Andrew had left the regiment. Nothing would induce him
to face his brother-officers after what had happened. He sold out and
returned to England. The first intelligence which reached him on his
return was the intelligence of his father's death. He came to my office
in London, before going home, and there learned from my lips how the
family quarrel had ended.

"The will which Mr. Vanstone the elder had destroyed in my presence had
not been, so far as I know, replaced by another. When I was sent for, in
the usual course, on his death, I fully expected that the law would be
left to make the customary division among his widow and his children.
To my surprise, a will appeared among his papers, correctly drawn and
executed, and dated about a week after the period when the first will
had been destroyed. He had maintained his vindictive purpose against
his eldest son, and had applied to a stranger for the professional
assistance which I honestly believe he was ashamed to ask for at my
hands.

"It is needless to trouble you with the provisions of the will in
detail. There were the widow and three surviving children to be provided
for. The widow received a life-interest only in a portion of the
testator's property. The remaining portion was divided between Andrew
and Selina--two-thirds to the brother; one-third to the sister. On the
mother's death, the money from which her income had been derived was
to go to Andrew and Selina, in the same relative proportions as
before--five thousand pounds having been first deducted from the sum and
paid to Michael, as the sole legacy left by the implacable father to his
eldest son.

"Speaking in round numbers, the division of property, as settled by the
will, stood thus. Before the mother's death, Andrew had seventy thousand
pounds; Selina had thirty-five thousand pounds; Michael--had nothing.
After the mother's death, Michael had five thousand pounds, to se