Great Porter Square: A Mystery. v. 3Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
General
Great Porter Square: A Mystery. v. 3
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction
_Sunday, 6th July._--This has been truly a Sabbath Day, a day of prayer,
to me, and has been passed in contemplation of my past life, and in
supplications for the future. If a man could but see the consequences of
his errors before he was committed to them, how much misery to himself,
how much injustice to others, would be avoided! It is almost incredible
that, blessed in the memory of a wife with a pure heart and mind, I
should have been led into a second marriage with such a woman as Lydia
Wilson. The fault was more mine than hers. She had led a life of shame
and duplicity, and it was not to be expected that the simple forming of
an acquaintanceship with me would change her character. I should have
been wiser, or at least more prudent. I ought certainly to have made an
inquiry into the truth or falsehood of the story she told me, or I might
have considered that the union of a man of my age with a woman of hers
could not be a happy one. It is too late now to repent of an act which
has brought its own just and bitter punishment. The only reparation I
can make is to endeavour to repair the evil consequences which have
ensued. The one aim of my life, after the settlement with my wife is
accomplished, will be to find my son. I will advertise for him in the
English and American newspapers, and this surely will bring me news of
him. But it may not be necessary; he may be with me any time this week.
If a father's prayers could bring him to my side he would be here at
this moment.
* * * * *
_Monday, 7th July._--I have been employed during a great part of the day
in preparing and writing a new Will. Not wishing to consult a lawyer and
so to make known my presence in London, and fearful also of delay, I
purchased at a stationer's shop, at some distance from Great Porter
Square, printed forms of Wills from which I drew out a testamentary
disposition of my property. This task occupied me until four o'clock
in the afternoon, and the next task was to obtain witnesses to my
signature. These could have been obtained in the house, but if I had
attempted it I should have destroyed my incognito. I went to the shop
of the stationer of whom I purchased the printed forms, and I returned
them to him, and made some small purchases, to the amount of a couple
of sovereigns. I then asked the shopkeeper whether he would have any
objection to witnessing my signature to a Will, and to allowing an
assistant who was serving in the shop also to witness it. He consented,
and I signed without giving him a clear opportunity of distinguishing my
name; the names of the witnesses followed, and the Will was complete. In
payment of the service rendered to me I left in the man's shop the goods
I had bought and paid for; I had no use for them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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