General Desmond declared his intention of remaining until after the funeral. "I may be of some use in watching the interests of my dear friend," he said to Reginald Eversleigh. "There is only one person who will feel your uncle's death more deeply than I shall, and that is poor old Copplestone. He is still in the castle, I suppose?" "Yes, he is confined to his rooms still by the gout." Reginald Eversleigh was by no means pleased by the general's decision. He would rather have been alone in the castle. It seemed as if his uncle's old friend was inclined to take the place of master in the household. The young man's pride revolted against the general's love of dictation; and his fears--strange and terrible fears--made the presence of the general very painful to him. Joseph Millard had come to Reginald a little time after the discovery of the baronet's death, and had told him the contents of the new will. "Master told us with his own lips that he had left you heir to the estates, sir," said the valet. "There was no need for it to be kept a secret, he said; and we signed the will as witnesses--Peterson, the butler, and me." "And you are sure you have made no mistake, Millard. Sir Oswald--my poor, poor uncle, said that?" "He said those very words, Mr. Eversleigh; and I hope, sir, now that you are master of Raynham, you won't forget that I was always anxious for your interests, and gave you valuable information, sir, when I little thought you would ever inherit the estate, sir." "Yes, yes--you will not find me ungrateful, Millard," answered Reginald, impatiently; for in the terrible agitation of his mind, this man's talk jarred upon him. "I shall reward you liberally for past services, you may depend upon it," he added. "Thank you very much, sir," murmured the valet, about to retire. "Stay, Millard," said the young man. "You have been with my uncle twenty years. You must know everything about his health. Did you ever hear that he suffered from heart-disease?" "No, sir; he never did suffer from anything of the kind. There never was a stronger gentleman than Sir Oswald. In all the years that I have known him, I don't recollect his having a day's serious illness. And as to his dying of disease of the heart, I can't believe it, Mr. Eversleigh." "But in heart-complaint death is almost always sudden, and the disease is generally unsuspected until death reveals it." "Well, I don't know, sir. Of course the medical gentlemen understand such things; but I must say that _I_ don't understand Sir Oswald going off sudden like that." "You'd better keep your opinions to yourself down stairs, Millard. If an idea of that kind were to get about in the servants' hall, it might do mischief."