"And do you think for one moment, Mr. Piljoy, that I am anything but rejoiced that such should be the case?" demanded Nell, with sparkling eyes. "If you do, you misjudge me strangely. Oh! it was a most unjust and unnatural will, and my uncle himself acknowledged it to be so, but not till too late. With his last breath he implored me to send for the will and destroy it. His last conscious words were, 'To my grandson--all; to that woman'--meaning Mrs. Bullivant, who was there by the bedside--'nothing.' Had he but lived a few hours longer, the will would have been destroyed in accordance with his wishes." "I am very glad you have told me this, Miss Nell, very glad indeed. If one were superstitiously inclined, one would not find it hard to believe that it was the Squire's own hand which, by some means unknown to us, erased his signature from a document the existence of which, in the clear light which sometimes comes to people at the point of death, he saw reason to regret." "Should I live to be a hundred, I shall look back to this day as one of the red-letter days of my existence," said Nell with fervor. "No words could express to you how glad I am. But tell me, Mr. Piljoy, what is the next thing to be done?" "My advice is that just at present we do nothing. Should it really prove to be Mrs. Bullivant's intention to contest the heir's claim--for one never can foretell what a desperate woman may or may not choose to do--I shall doubtless hear from her solicitors before long. Meanwhile, our best plan will be to rest quietly on our oars." CHAPTER XVIII. THE MISSING HEIR. Not till a fortnight had gone by did Nell hear from Mr. Piljoy. Then he wrote as follows:-- "Dear Miss Baynard,--Before parting from you last I told you that on getting back home I would lose no time in minutely questioning my clerk Tew with regard to all that passed between Mr. Cortelyon and himself at the signing of the will. As you may remember, the chief point that wanted clearing up was whether there was any possibility of the unsigned will having been substituted for the signed one during the two or three minutes Andry Luce was absent from the room. Tew is positive no such substitution took place. His words are: 'The signed will was never out of my keeping from the moment the witnesses left the room till Andry Luce's return, when, by Mr. Cortelyon's direction, I gave the will to him to be enclosed and sealed up.' So we remain just as wise as we were before.