consulted in London had told him that his death might take place
at any moment. At the same time, he had been so bright and
cheerful in London, as indeed with us he was at all times, that
his death comes almost with as great a surprise to us as if we had
not known that he was in danger. Mr. Tallboys, the solicitor of
Weymouth who managed Mr. Penfold's affairs, called here last
night. The funeral is to take place on Thursday, and had Ralph
been in England he said that he should have written to him to come
down to it, which he could have done in time had he started
immediately he received the letter announcing the event; but as he
is over in Ireland, of course nothing can be done.

"He said that had Ralph come he should have suggested that you
also should be present at the reading of the will, but that as
matters stand he did not think there was any occasion to trouble
you. I should tell you that Mr. Tallboys appeared a good deal
worried, and one of his reasons for calling was to ask my husband
whether he knew where Mr. Penfold was in the habit of keeping his
papers. It seems that upon the day after his return from London
Mr. Penfold called upon him and took away his will, saying that he
wanted to look over it, as he had two or three slight alterations
that he wanted to make, and he would bring it back in the course
of a day or two and get him to make the changes required. From
that time Mr. Penfold had not been in Weymouth, and, indeed, had
scarcely left the house except to come down here; for, as he said
to my husband, he did not feel quite himself, and supposed it was
a reaction after his late dissipations.

"Mr. Tallboys, who is one of the executors named in the will, had
searched for it in the afternoon among Mr. Penfold's papers; but
found that it and several other documents--leases and so on--of
importance were all missing. He had asked Miss Penfold if she knew
where her brother was in the habit of keeping important papers;
but she replied shortly that she knew nothing whatever of her
brother's business matters. He had, therefore, driven over to ask
my husband, knowing how intimate he had been with poor Herbert. He
knew, it seems, that Mr. Penfold had some secure place for such
papers, because he had one day spoken to him upon the subject,
saying it would be more prud