e; but then her heart misgave her:
she did not dare to face the dead. Conscience waved her back from the
solemn offices of nature; she hid her face with her hands, shrank again
into her room; and Mr. Fielden, assuming unbidden the responsibility,
went alone.

Only Vernon (summoned from Brighton), the good clergyman, and the
lawyer, to whom, as sole executor, the will was addressed, and in whose
custody it had been left, were present when the seal of the testament
was broken. The will was long, as is common when the dust that it
disposes of covers some fourteen or fifteen thousand acres. But out of
the mass of technicalities and repetitions these points of interest rose
salient: To Charles Vernon, of Vernon Grange, Esq., and his heirs by
him lawfully begotten, were left all the lands and woods and manors
that covered that space in the Hampshire map known by the name of the
"Laughton property," on condition that he and his heirs assumed the
name and arms of St. John; and on the failure of Mr. Vernon's issue, the
estate passed, first (with the same conditions) to the issue of Susan
Mivers; next to that of Lucretia Clavering. There the entail ceased; and
the contingency fell to the rival ingenuity of lawyers in hunting out,
amongst the remote and forgotten descendants of some ancient St. John,
the heir-at-law. To Lucretia Clavering, without a word of endearment,
was bequeathed 10,000 pounds,--the usual portion which the house of St.
John had allotted to its daughters; to Susan Mivers the same sum, but
with the addition of these words, withheld from her sister: "and my
blessing!" To Olivier Dalibard an annuity of 200 pounds a year; to
Honore Gabriel Varney, 3,000 pounds; to the Rev. Matthew Fielden, 4,000
pounds; and the same sum to John Walter Ardworth. To his favourite
servant, Henry Jones, an ample provision, and the charge of his dogs
Dash and Ponto, with an allowance therefor, to be paid weekly, and cease
at their deaths. Poor old man! he made it the interest of their guardian
not to grudge their lease of life. To his other attendants, suitable and
munificent bequests, proportioned to the length of their services.
For his body, he desired it to be buried in the vault of his ancestors
without pomp, but without a pretence to a humility which he had not
manifested in life; and he requested that a small miniature in his
writing-desk should be placed in his coffin. That last injunction was
more than a sentiment,--it bespoke