, it lapsed to him absolutely. But it would appear that the
contingency of both the Massingbirds dying had been only barely glanced
at by Mr. Verner. Five hundred pounds were left to Lionel: five hundred
to Jan; five hundred to Decima; nothing to Lady Verner. Mrs. Verner was
suitably provided for, and there were bequests to servants. Twenty-five
pounds for "a mourning ring" were bequeathed to each of the two
executors, Sir Rufus Hautley, and Mr. Bitterworth; and old Matthew Frost
had forty pounds a year for his life. Such were the chief features of
the will; and the utter astonishment it produced on the minds and
countenances of some of the listeners was a sight to witness. Lionel,
Mrs. Verner, Jan, and Sir Rufus Hautley were petrified.

Sir Rufus rose. He was a thin, stately man, always dressed in hessian
boots and the old-fashioned shirt-frill. A proud, impassive countenance
was his, but it darkened now. "I will not act," he began. "I beg to
state my opinion that the will is an unfair one--"

"I beg your pardon, Sir Rufus," interrupted the lawyer. "Allow me a
word. This is not the final will of Mr. Verner; much of it has been
revoked by a recent codicil. Verner's Pride comes to Mr. Lionel. You
will find the codicil in the desk, sir," he added to Lionel.

Lionel, his pale face haughty, and quite as impassive as that of Sir
Rufus, for anything like injustice angered him, opened the desk again.
"I was not aware," he observed. "My uncle told me on the day of his
death that the will would be found in his desk; I supposed that to be
it."

"It is the will," said Mr. Matiss. "But he caused me to draw up a later
codicil, which revoked the bequest of Verner's Pride. It is left to you
absolutely."

Lionel was searching in the desk. The few papers in it appeared to be
arranged with the most methodical neatness: but they were small, chiefly
old letters. "I don't see anything like a codicil," he observed. "You
had better look yourself, Mr. Matiss; you will probably recognise it."

Mr. Matiss advanced to the desk and looked in it. "It is not here!" he
exclaimed.

Not there! They gazed at him, at the desk, at Lionel, half puzzled. The
lawyer, with rapid fingers, began taking out the papers one by one.

"No, it is not here, in either compartment. I saw it was not, the moment
I looked in; but it was well to be sure. Where has it been put?"

"I really do not know anything about it," answered Lionel, to whom he
looked as he spo