not done by him,--nor by them,--those other
people who were in the court to-day."

"But who says so? How is it known? If my father did not sign it, it
is a forgery; and who forged it? Those wretches have bought over some
one and you have been deceived, Mrs. Orme. It is not of the property
I am thinking, but of my mother. If it were as you say, my mother
must have known it?"

"Ah! yes."

"And you mean that she did know it; that she knew it was a forgery?"

"Oh! Mr. Mason."

"Heaven and earth! Let me go to her. If she were to tell me so
herself I would not believe it of her. Ah! she has told you?"

"Yes; she has told me."

"Then she is mad. This has been too much for her, and her brain has
gone with it. Let me go to her, Mrs. Orme."

"No, no; you must not go to her." And Mrs. Orme put herself directly
before the door. "She is not mad,--not now. Then, at that time, we
must think she was so. It is not so now."

"I cannot understand you." And he put his left hand up to his
forehead as though to steady his thoughts. "I do not understand you.
If the will be a forgery, who did it?"

This question she could not answer at the moment. She was still
standing against the door, and her eyes fell to the ground. "Who did
it?" he repeated. "Whose hand wrote my father's name?"

"You must be merciful, Mr. Mason."

"Merciful;--to whom?"

"To your mother."

"Merciful to my mother! Mrs. Orme, speak out to me. If the will was
forged, who forged it? You cannot mean to tell me that she did it!"

She did not answer him at the moment in words, but coming close up to
him she took both his hands in hers, and then looked steadfastly up
into his eyes. His face had now become almost convulsed with emotion,
and his brow was very black. "Do you wish me to believe that my
mother forged the will herself?" Then again he paused, but she
said nothing. "Woman, it's a lie," he exclaimed; and then tearing
his hands from her, shaking her off, and striding away with quick
footsteps, he threw himself on a sofa that stood in the furthest part
of the room.

She paused for a moment and then followed him very gently. She
followed him and stood over him in silence for a moment, as he lay
with his face from her. "Mr. Mason," she said at last, "you told me
that you would bear this like a man."

But he made her no answer, and she went on. "Mr. Mason, it is, as I
tell you. Years and years ago, when you were a baby, and when she
thought that your fa