"I will, George, I will," she answered, with earnest, willing acquiescence. And there was a look that told of resolution in her strange and dreamy eyes, as they seemed to gaze before her into a far-off vision of the future. And all in a moment a thought rose up within her--a conviction, if you will--that this fancy, belief, superstition--call it what you please--of the premature deaths of the masters of Alnwick, must have been the secret and still unexplained cause of her mother's opposition to the match. CHAPTER VII. A SHADOW OF THE FUTURE. October came in, and was passing. George St. John sat at his desk, reading over a letter he had just penned, preparatory to folding it. It may facilitate matters if we read it also. "My Dear Mr. St. John, "'It behoves all sane men to make a will.' Do you recognize the sentence? It was from your own lips I heard it spoken, years ago, when I was a little chap in tunics, and somehow it has never left my memory. Then, you will say, why have you, George St. John, lived to your present age and never made one? And in truth I can only plead carelessness as the excuse. I am about to remedy the omission. Not that there would be much trouble with my affairs were I to die without leaving a will, as Benja takes nearly all I possess; and there's my wife's marriage-settlement--you know how poor it is--to claim the remainder. On that score, therefore, the obligation is not a very onerous one; and perhaps that fact may have induced the carelessness I admit. But there is another phase of the question that has latterly forced itself on my attention--the necessity for providing proper guardians for my children in the event of my death. "Will you, Isaac St. John, good and true man that you are, be this guardian? I say, 'this guardian;' for though another will be associated with you for form's sake, I shall wish you to be the acting one. The other of whom I have thought is General Carleton, my late wife's uncle; and the General, being a bilious old Indian, will not like to have any active trouble thrust upon him. I hope, however, the charge would not entail trouble upon you, any more than upon him; as my present wife will be constituted the children's personal guardian. Let me have an answer from you at your convenience, but do not refuse my request. "Give my kind regards to Mrs. St. John. Is Fred with you? What about Lady Anne? "Believe me, "Ever your sincere friend and cousin, "George Carleton St. John." The letter was folded, sealed, and addressed to Isaac St. John, Esquire, of Castle Wafer. George St. John laid it aside with others for the post, and then turned to a mass of papers, which he began to sort and look into. Indeed, he seemed latterly to have taken quite a mania for arranging his affairs and putting them in order: and his steward said privately to a friend, that Mr. St. John was growing as methodical as he had formerly been careless.