uld be divided among his next of kin.
As children born out of wedlock, Mr. Vanstone's daughters, under the
circumstances of their father's death, had no more claim to a share in
his property than the daughters of one of his laborers in the village.
The one chance left was that their mother might sufficiently recover to
leave her third share to them, by will, in the event of her decease. Now
you know why I wrote to you to ask for that interview--why I waited
day and night, in the hope of receiving a summons to the house. I was
sincerely sorry to send back such an answer to your note of inquiry as I
was compelled to write. But while there was a chance of the preservation
of Mrs. Vanstone's life, the secret of the marriage was hers, not mine;
and every consideration of delicacy forbade me to disclose it."

"You did right, sir," said Miss Garth; "I understand your motives, and
respect them."

"My last attempt to provide for the daughters," continued Mr. Pendril,
"was, as you know, rendered unavailing by the dangerous nature of Mrs.
Vanstone's illness. Her death left the infant who survived her by a few
hours (the infant born, you will remember, in lawful wedlock) possessed,
in due legal course, of the whole of Mr. Vanstone's fortune. On the
child's death--if it had only outlived the mother by a few seconds,
instead of a few hours, the result would have been the same--the next of
kin to the legitimate offspring took the money; and that next of kin
is the infant's paternal uncle, Michael Vanstone. The whole fortune
of eighty thousand pounds has virtually passed into his possession
already."

"Are there no other relations?" asked Miss Garth. "Is there no hope from
any one else?"

"There are no other relations with Michael Vanstone's claim," said the
lawyer. "There are no grandfathers or grandmothers of the dead child (on
the side of either of the parents) now alive. It was not likely there
should be, considering the ages of Mr. and Mrs. Vanstone when they died.
But it is a misfortune to be reasonably lamented that no other uncles or
aunts survive. There are cousins alive; a son and two daughters of that
elder sister of Mr. Vanstone's, who married Archdeacon Bartram, and who
died, as I told you, some years since. But their interest is superseded
by the interest of the nearer blood. No, Miss Garth, we must look
facts as they are resolutely in the face. Mr. Vanstone's daughters are
Nobody's Children; and the law leaves them h