Two months later, and I was under a sky unlike to that which canopies
the region of Parana as lead to shining sapphires--in a room as
different from that pleasant _quarto_ in the South American _estancia_,
as a Newgate cell to an apartment in Aladdin's palace. I stood in the
dingy office of a Lincoln's Inn lawyer, by name Lawson, the firm Lawson
and Son. It was the senior partner who received me; a gentleman with
all the appearance, and, as I afterwards discovered, all the claims to
respectability in his profession.
"What is the nature of your business?" he politely asked, after
examining the card which I handed him to introduce myself.
"You will find it there," I answered, placing before him an old _Times_
newspaper, and pointing to an advertisement marked in pencil. "I
presume it is your firm, Mr Lawson, to which this application is to be
made?"
"It is," he said, starting up from his office chair, as if I had
presented a pistol at his head. "It is very long ago, but no matter for
that. Do you know anything of the gentleman to whom it refers?"
"Yes, something," I replied, cautiously--not knowing how far I might be
committing the interests of my South American friend.
"He is still alive, then? I mean Mr Henry Harding?"
"I have reason to think so. He was alive two months ago."
"By --!" exclaimed the lawyer, using a phrase evidently forced from him
by the importance of the occasion. "This is serious, indeed. But, sir,
are you quite sure? You will excuse me if I ask on which side you come.
I know your name, sir. I believe I can trust you to speak candidly.
Are you here as a friend of Mr Nigel Harding?"
"If I had been, Mr Lawson, it is not likely I should have given you the
information it has just been my pleasure to impart. From all I've
heard, Mr Nigel Harding would be the last man to be gratified by
learning that his brother is alive."
My speech had a magical effect on Mr Lawson. I could see at once he
was upon our side, as he saw that I was upon his. Out of doors I had
already heard, that he was no longer the trusted attorney of the
Beechwood estate.
"And you assure me he _is_ alive?" was the question again put with an
emphasis that showed its importance.
"The best proof I can give you is this."
I handed over the letter written by Henry Harding, containing a
requisition upon him for the legacy of a thousand pounds.
"A thousand pounds!" exclaimed the lawyer, as soon as he had read. "A
thousand pounds! A hundred thousand, every shilling of it! Yes! and
the accumulated interest, and the mortgage already obtained, and the
waste by that scoundrel Woolet! Ah! here's a penalty for Mr Nigel
Harding to pay, and his sweet spendthrift of a wife!"
I was not prepared for this explosion; and as soon as it had to some
extent subsided, I asked Mr Lawson to explain.
"Explain!" he said, putting on his spectacles, and turning towards me
with a businesslike air. "To you, sir, I shall have much pleasure in
explaining. This letter tells me I can trust you. Thank God, the lad
still lives!--the true son of my old friend Harding: as he told me on
his dying-bed, and with his last breath. Thank God, he is still alive;
and we shall yet be able to punish the usurpers, and that pettifogging
Woolet as well! Oh, this is good news--a glorious revelation--a
resurrection, one may call it!"
"But what does it all mean, Mr Lawson? I came to you at the request of
my friend, Mr Henry Harding, whom by chance I met while travelling in
South America, on the Parana--as you will see by his letter. He has
commissioned me, as you will also perceive, to call upon you, and make
certain inquiries. He is under the impression that you hold in your
hands a legacy of one thousand pounds left him by his father. If so, he
has given me the authority to receive it."
"A thousand pounds! A thousand pence! Is Beechwood estate worth only a
thousand pounds? Read this, sir--just run your eye over that document!"
A grand sheet of parchment, pulled from out a tin case, was flung before
me. I saw it was lettered as a will. I took it up, and spreading it
upon the table, read what was written. I need not give its contents in
detail. It stated that General Harding had revoked the terms of a
former will, which left the whole of his estate to his eldest son,
Nigel, with a legacy of one thousand pounds to his youngest, Henry; that
this second will exactly transposed the conditions, leaving the estate
to Henry, and the thousand-pound legacy to Nigel! It also contained
ample instructions for the administration, Mr Lawson and his son being
the appointed administrators. It was not to be made known to Nigel
Harding himself, unless it should be ascertained that Henry was still
alive. To determine this point, all due diligence was to be used, by
advertisements in the papers, and such other means as the administrators
should see fit. Meanwhile, Nigel was to retain possession of the
estate, as by the terms of the former testament; and in the event of
Henry's death being proved, he was not only to be left undisturbed, but
kept ignorant of the existence of the second will--which would then be
null and void. There was a codicil--similar to one in the former will--
by which the General's sister was to have a life-interest out of the
estate, amounting to two hundred pounds per annum. Such were the terms
of the testament which the solicitor had laid before me.
It is scarce necessary to say, that I perused the document containing
these singular conditions with no slight astonishment, and certainly
with a feeling of gratification. My hospitable host--the young
_estanciero_ on the Parana--need no longer feel under any obligation to
his worthy father-in-law; and, little as he professed to love England, I
could not help thinking that possession of this fine paternal estate
would do much to modify his prejudices against his native land.
"By this will," I said, addressing myself to the solicitor, "it appears
that Henry Harding becomes the sole inheritor of the Beechwood
property?"
"It is certain," answered he; "all but the thousand-pound legacy, and
the life-annuity."
"It will be a surprise for Mr Nigel."
"Ah! and Mr Woolet too. They did all they could to keep me from
advertising for the lost legatee. Of course, they supposed I did so in
order to pay him the paltry thousand pounds. Mr Nigel may now have
that, and see how far it will cover Woolet's costs. My word! it will be
an explosion! And now for the first steps towards bringing it about."
"How do you intend to proceed?"
The lawyer looked at me, as if hesitating to answer the question.
"Excuse me," I said; "I asked rather out of curiosity than otherwise."
"There you are wrong, good sir. Pardon me for being plain with you.
You have the legal authority to act for him."
"That," I said, "was only under the supposition that he was to receive a
legacy of a thousand pounds. With an estate, as you say, worth a
hundred thousand pounds, the affair takes a different shape, and clearly
goes beyond my discretionary powers. Though I cannot act as a principal
in the matter, I am willing to help you every way I can. I feel
sufficiently indebted to your client to do so."
"And that is just what I intended asking you. Hence my hesitation in
replying to your question. I am glad to know that we can count on your
assistance. No doubt, we shall need it. Men don't yield up possession
of a hundred thousand without showing fight. We may expect all that,
and some questionable strategy besides, from such a fellow as Woolet--a
thorough scoundrel--without one jot of principle!"
"But how can they dispute this will?" I asked. "It seems clear enough,
and of course you know it to have been the latest and last."
"Signed by General Harding the day before he died. Regularly and
carefully attested--you see the names upon it. They cannot dispute the
document."
"What then?"
"Ah! what then? That is just the point I think it will turn upon the
_identity_ of our claimant. By the way, what does the young fellow look
like? Is he much altered in appearance since he left England?"
"That question I cannot answer."
"Indeed! It is but two months since you have seen him."
"True; but I may almost say I then saw him for the first time. I had
met him six years before, but only on one or two occasions, and had lost
all remembrance of his looks."
"He was very young," pursued the solicitor in soliloquy,--"a mere boy
when that unfortunate affair occurred. After all, perhaps, not so
unfortunate! No doubt, he will be much changed. A captivity among
brigands--fighting on barricades--a beard--the tan of a South American
sun--to say nothing of getting married--no doubt, the Henry Harding of
to-day is entirely unlike the Henry Harding who left home six years ago.
My word! there might be a difficulty in identifying him, and we may
dread the worst. People nowadays can be had to swear anything--that
black's blue, or even white, if it's wanted--and money enough to pay for
the perjury. In this case there will be both money and a determination
to use it. Woolet won't stick at anything; nor will Mr Nigel Harding
either--to say nothing of Mrs Nigel and her amiable mother. We're sure
to have a fight, sir--sure of it."
"You don't appear to have much fear about the result?"
I said this, noticing that the lawyer talked with an air of triumphant
confidence, besides having used the conditional tense when speaking of
the chances of his client being identified.
"Not the slightest--not the slightest. I don't apprehend any
difficulty. There might have been; but I fancy I have a scheme to set
all right. Never mind, sir; you shall be told of it in good time. And
now for citing all parties into Court."
"But do you mean to do that now?"
"Of course not; oh no. I was only speaking figuratively. The first
thing is to get Mr Henry Harding here,--he must be sent for
immediately. Let me see: _Estancia Torreani, Rosario_. Up the Parana
River, you say. With your kind directions, sir, my own son shall start
for South America at once. It's a long way, but no matter for that. A
hundred thousand pounds is worth going round the world for more than
once. And now, sir, I will make request for two favours: one, that you
will write to your friend, Mr Henry Harding, telling him what you have
learnt. My son can carry your letter along with other instructions.
The other favour I would ask is, that you give your word to keep this
affair a secret until--well, until Mr Henry Harding himself appears
upon the ground."
Of course the promise was given--as also the directions to serve Lawson
junior on his Transatlantic itinerary; and leaving my address, so that
Lawson senior could at any time communicate with me, I took my departure
from Lincoln's Inn Fields, rejoiced, as well as surprised, at the
discovery I had made.