n so deferential,
that he did not understand the man. It didn't occur to him that it was
assumed for a purpose.

That manner was not yet laid aside. His stepfather offered to comfort
him, but Frank listened in silence. Nothing that Mr. Manning could say
had the power to lighten his load of grief. So far as words could
console him, the sympathy of Deborah and the coachman, both old
servants, whom his mother trusted, had more effect, for he knew that it
was sincere, and that they were really attached to his mother.

Of Mr. Manning he felt a profound distrust, which no words of his could
remove.

Meanwhile, Mr. Manning was looking from an upper window down the fine
avenue, and his eye ranged from left to right over the ample estate with
a glance of self-complacent triumph.

"All mine at last!" he said to himself, exultingly. "What I have been
working for has come to pass. Three years ago I was well-nigh penniless,
and now I am a rich man. I shall leave Mark the master of a great
fortune. I have played my cards well. No one will suspect anything
wrong. My wife and I have lived in harmony. There will be little wonder
that she has left all to me. There would be, perhaps, but for the manner
in which I have taken care he shall be mentioned in the will--I mean, of
course, in the will I have made for her."

He paused, and, touching a spring in the wall, a small door flew open,
revealing a shallow recess.

In this recess was a folded paper, tied with a red ribbon.

Mr. Manning opened it, and his eyes glanced rapidly down the page.

"This is the true will," he said to himself. "I wish I could summon
courage to burn it. It would be best out of the way. That, if found
out, would make me amenable to the law, and I must run no risk. In this
secret recess it will never be found. I will replace it, and the
document which I have had prepared will take its place, and no one will
be the wiser."

On the day after the funeral, the family solicitor and a few intimate
friends, who had been invited by Mr. Manning, assembled in the drawing
room of the mansion to hear the will read.

Mr. Manning himself notified Frank of the gathering and its object.

He found our hero lying on the bed in his chamber, sad and depressed.

"I don't like to intrude upon your grief, my dear boy," said his
stepfather, softly, "but it is necessary. The last will of your dear
mother and my beloved wife is about to be read, and your presence is
necessary."