The Temple.
MY DEAR DOROTHY,—You say that Aunt Anne is in a great state of mind
because she has lost her copy of Uncle John’s will. She sent it to her
solicitors to have their opinion on one of the clauses in the will, and
they declare that the will was returned to her, and that it is not in
their possession.
There is no need for Aunt Anne to distress herself, even if her copy
of the will is lost; she can easily procure another copy by applying
to Somerset House. If she only wishes to read over the will again
with the opinion she has received from her lawyers, she had better
go down to Somerset House, which is in the Strand, not very far from
Wellington Street, on the right hand side going towards the City from
Charing Cross, and there they will let her read the will on payment of,
I think, a shilling, and they will supply her with a certified, or an
ordinary, copy of the will on payment of so much per folio, the exact
amount she can learn on inquiry.
The part of Somerset House where the wills are kept is exactly opposite
the archway, straight across the courtyard—she cannot mistake it.
Inside she will find several polite minor officials, who will show her
what forms to fill up, fetch the books for her and render her every
possible assistance; the men who fetch the books expect a small tip for
their trouble.
At Somerset House, Aunt Anne will find all sorts of people reading
not only the wills of their friends and relatives, but also wills
under which they can take no pecuniary interest, such as the wills of
public men in no way related to them; anyone can read anybody’s will on
payment of the usual fee. To make a copy of a will for oneself is not
permitted, but you may take a short note of its contents.
Somerset House, like most of the public offices, closes at four
o’clock, so it is advisable to go not after half-past three at the
latest. If Aunt Anne can put off her visit till next week, I shall be
happy to accompany her if she desires it. This week all my time is
fully occupied with an unusually large sessions, which means that your
affectionate cousin will have the chance of scooping in a guinea or two
by the prosecution of some unfortunate prisoner. This is what we call
getting “soup.”
A curious name, is it not? I do not know the origin of the term, which
is certainly a suggestive one. A good many of us never get beyond the
“soup,” I am afraid, much as we should like to assist at the carving up
of the joints.
After which poetical digression, let us return to our muttons. It is
very annoying to lose a business appointment on account of a train
being late. Gerald has my sympathy, but I can offer him no consolation,
it being a generally established rule that damages cannot be obtained
for the loss of a business engagement, nor can damages be obtained for
the annoyance experienced by the traveller.
You see the railway companies say that “every attention will be paid
to ensure punctuality,” and to recover damages you would have to prove
that the lateness of the train was due to their neglect to pay the
“every attention” promised, a difficult thing to do. Supposing the
weather was foggy, or there had been a break-down on the line, or some
other reason for the train being late, the company would declare that
their failure to keep to the time advertised on their time-tables was
unavoidable, and due to causes beyond their control.
There have been one or two cases where travellers have recovered
damages from railway companies on account of the lateness of a train,
but in all these cases there were special circumstances which rendered
the companies liable; but Gerald’s case was not an exceptional one; in
fact, if he were a suburban season ticket holder, he would find the
lateness of trains arriving in the morning a very common occurrence.
If a train is advertised to stop at a certain station, and you get
carried beyond your destination, you would probably be successful
in obtaining damages for personal inconvenience, supposing you were
obliged to walk back, and you would certainly be entitled to drive back
and charge the expense of carriage hire to the company; or, supposing
that no conveyance was procurable and it was too far or too wet or too
late for you to return on foot, you would be justified in going to a
hotel and making the company reimburse you for the expenses of the
night. It would have to be an exceptional case which would justify you
in the ordering of a special train, a course of action not recommended
by
Your affectionate cousin,
BOB BRIEFLESS.
GIRLS AS I HAVE KNOWN THEM.
BY ELSA D’ESTERRE-KEELING, Author of “Old Maids and Young.”