t she is not cheated by her husband, or by any one else?"

"I shall hold it a sacred charge to protect her interests, so far as it
is possible for me to do so."

"That's well. I shall make you one of the executors to my will, if you've
no objection."

"No. The executorship will bring me into collision with Mr. Holbrook, no
doubt; but I have resolved upon my line of conduct with regard to him,
and I am prepared for whatever may happen. My chief desire now is to be a
real friend to your granddaughter; for I believe she has need of
friends."

The will was drawn up next day by an attorney of by no means spotless
reputation, who had often done business for Mr. Nowell in the past, and
who may have known a good deal about the origin of some of the silver
which found its way to the old silversmith's stores. He was a gentleman
frequently employed in the defence of those injured innocents who appear
at the bar of the Old Bailey; and was not at all particular as to the
merits of the cases he conducted. This gentleman embodied Mr. Nowell's
desires with reference to the disposal of his worldly goods in a very
simple and straightforward manner. All that Jacob Nowell had to leave was
left to his granddaughter, Marian Holbrook, for her own separate use and
maintenance, independent of any husband whatsoever.

This was clear enough. It was only when there came the question, which a
lawyer puts with such deadly calmness, as to what was to be done with the
money in the event of Marian Holbrook's dying intestate, that any
perplexity arose.

"Of course, if she has children, you'd like the money to go to them,"
said Mr. Medler, the attorney; "that's clear enough, and had better be
set out in your will. But suppose she should have no children, you'd
scarcely like all you leave to go to her husband, who is quite a stranger
to you, and who may be a scoundrel for aught you know."

"No; I certainly shouldn't much care about enriching this Holbrook."

"Of course not; to say nothing of the danger there would be in giving him
so strong an interest in his wife's death. Not but what I daresay he'll
contrive to squander the greater part of the money during her lifetime.
Is it all in hard cash?"

"No; there is some house-property at Islington, which pays a high
interest; and there are other freeholds."

"Then we might tie those up, giving Mrs. Holbrook only the income. It is
essential to provide against possible villany or extravagance on the