rning,
indeed, a brief, the biggest he had yet received--it was marked thirty
guineas--had been forwarded to him from his chambers, with a note from
his clerk to the effect that the case was expected to be in the special
jury list on the first day of the sittings, and that the clerk had made
an appointment for him with the solicitors for 5.15 on the Tuesday. The
brief was sent to him by his uncle's firm, and marked, "With you the
Attorney-General, and Mr. Candleton, Q.C.," the well-known leader of the
Probate and Divorce Court Bar. Never before had Geoffrey found himself
in such honourable company, that is on the back of a brief, and not a
little was he elated thereby.

But when he came to look into the case his joy abated somewhat, for
it was one of the most perplexing that he had ever known. The will
contested, which was that of a Yorkshire money-lender, disposed of
property to the value of over L80,000, and was propounded by a niece of
the testator who, when he died, if not actually weak in his mind, was
in his dotage, and superstitious to the verge of insanity. The niece to
whom all the property was left--to the exclusion of the son and daughter
of the deceased, both married, and living away from home--stayed with
the testator and looked after him. Shortly before his death, however, he
and this niece had violently quarrelled on account of an intimacy
which the latter had formed with a married man of bad repute, who was
a discharged lawyer's clerk. So serious had been the quarrel that only
three days before his death the testator had sent for a lawyer and
formally, by means of a codicil, deprived the niece of a sum of L2,000
which he had left her, all the rest of his property being divided
between his son and daughter. Three days afterwards, however, he duly
executed a fresh will, in the presence of two servants, by which he
left all his property to the niece, to the entire exclusion of his
own children. This will, though very short, was in proper form and
was written by nobody knew whom. The servants stated that the testator
before signing it was perfectly acquainted with its contents, for the
niece had made him repeat them in their presence. They also declared,
however, that he seemed in a terrible fright, and said twice, "It's
behind me; it's behind me!"

Within an hour of the signing of the will the testator was found dead,
apparently from the effects of fear, but the niece was not in the room
at the time of de