iture,
plate, pictures, wine, liquors, horses, carriages, stock, and all the
rest, residue, and remainder of my personal estate and effects
whatsoever, (after the payment of the debts and legacies hereinbefore
mentioned,) I give, devise, and bequeath the same to my cousin,
Catharine Peyton, daughter of Edward Peyton, Esquire, of Peyton Hall, in
the County of Cumberland, her heirs, executors, administrators, and
assigns, forever."

* * * * *

When the lawyer read out this unexpected blow, the whole company turned
in their seats and looked amazed at her who in a second and a sentence
was turned before their eyes from the poorest girl in Cumberland to an
heiress in her own right, and proprietor of the house they sat in, the
chairs they sat on, and the lawn they looked out at.

Ay, we turn to the rising sun. Very few looked at Griffith Gaunt to see
how he took his mistress's good fortune, that was his calamity; yet his
face was a book full of strange matter. At first a flash of loving joy
crossed his countenance; but this gave way immediately to a haggard
look, and that to a glare of despair.

As for the lady, she cast one deprecating glance, swifter than
lightning, at him she had disinherited, and then she turned her face to
marble. In vain did curious looks explore her to detect the delight such
a stroke of fortune would have given to themselves. Faulty, but great of
soul, and on her guard against the piercing eyes of her own sex, she sat
sedate, and received her change of fortune with every appearance of cool
composure and exalted indifference; and as for her dreamy eyes, they
seemed thinking of heaven, or something almost as many miles away from
money and land.

But the lawyer had not stopped a moment to see how people took it; he
had gone steadily on through the usual formal clauses; and now he
brought his monotonous voice to an end, and added, in the same breath,
but in a natural and cheerful tone,--

"Madam, I wish you joy."

This operated like a signal. The company exploded in a body; and then
they all came about the heiress, and congratulated her in turn. She
curtsied politely, though somewhat coldly, but said not a word in reply,
till the disappointed one spoke to her.

He hung back at first. To understand his feelings, it must be
remembered, that, in his view of things, Kate gained nothing by this
bequest, compared with what he lost. As his wife, she would have been
mistr