Tristram of Blent: An Episode in the Story of an Ancient HouseHope, Anthony
General
Tristram of Blent: An Episode in the Story of an Ancient House
Hope, Anthony
England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Young men -- Fiction
All this had been two hours' hard work. But after all two hours is not
long to spend in getting rid of an old life and entering on a new. He
found himself rather surprised at the simplicity of the process. What
was there left to do? He had only to go to London and see his lawyer--an
interview easy enough for him, though startling no doubt to the lawyer.
Cecily would be put into possession of her own. There was nothing
sensational. He would travel a bit perhaps, or just stay in town. He had
money enough to live on quietly or to use in making more; for his
mother's savings were indubitably his, left to him by a will in which
he, the real Harry, was so expressly designated by his own full
name--even more than that--as "Henry Austen Fitzhubert Tristram,
otherwise Henry Austen Fitzhubert, my son by the late Captain Austen
Fitzhubert"--that no question of his right could arise. That money would
not go with the title. Only Blent and all the realty passed with that;
the money was not affected by the date of his birth; that must be
explained to Cecily by his lawyer or perhaps she would expect to get
it. For the moment there was nothing to do but to go to London--and then
perhaps travel a bit. He smiled for an instant; it certainly struck him
as rather an anti-climax. He threw himself on a sofa and, in spite of
his conviction that he could not sleep, dozed off almost directly.
It was three when he awoke; he went up to his room, had a bath, shaved,
and put on a tweed suit. Coming down to the study again, he opened the
shutters and looked out. It would be light soon, and he could go away.
He was fretfully impatient of staying. He drank some whiskey and
soda-water, and smoked a cigar as he walked up and down. Yes, there were
signs of dawn now; the darkness lifted over the hill on which Merrion
stood.
Merrion! Yes, Merrion. And the Major? Well, Duplay had not frightened
him, Duplay had not turned him out. He was going of his own will--of his
own act anyhow, for he could not feel so sure about the will. But for
the first time it struck him that his abdication might accrue to the
Major's benefit, that he had won for Duplay the prize which he was sure
the gallant officer could not have achieved for himself. "I'll be hanged
if I do that," he muttered. "Yes, I know what I'll do," he added,
smiling.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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