WaynfleteColeridge, Christabel R. (Christabel Rose)
General
Waynflete
Coleridge, Christabel R. (Christabel Rose)
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
In the mean time, Godfrey, to whom Mrs Palmer had given his aunt's
keys, went into the deserted bedroom, and, shutting the door, sat down
in an old square chair by the writing-table, and tried to collect
himself and to command his senses.
Constancy had shown him that his action in disobeying the telegram had
either been ridiculously childish, or despicably mean; in either case
contemptible. The shock that met him on his arrival had startled away,
for the moment, all feelings but those of real and natural grief, till
the alarm at Guy's condition had forced him to recollect whose fault the
over-exertion had been, whose doing was whatever anxious waiting had
befallen his old aunt on her death-bed, and whatever grief his brother
would feel at being absent from it. And now the report of Jeanie's
words filled him with a vague fear, born perhaps of his own bad
conscience, which caused him to dread turning the key in the lock.
There was, too, the first chilling experience of the change made by
death. The day before, he would never have dreamed of touching those
keys.
He opened the drawer, however, at last. There were various packets of
bills and letters, and on the top a long white parchment envelope, a
long blue one, and a smaller square one of the cream-laid paper, which
Mrs Waynflete had always used.
Godfrey took this last timidly in his hand. It was labelled,
"Directions as to my Funeral." He looked at the parchment envelope on
which was engrossed, "Last Will and Testament of Mrs Margaret
Waynflete, April 5th, 1880."
Then he looked at the blue one, and on this was written in his aunt's
laboured writing--writing which, if not acquired, had been practised
since childhood, "My Will, September 25th, 189-."
The blue envelope which his aunt had perhaps meant to destroy! Godfrey
caught up all three documents in his hand, all were unsealed, but he
could not resolve to open them by himself, and hurried up to Guy's room.
On the way he met Jeanie, in a black frock, her face swelled with
crying, and some autumn flowers in her hand.
Poor Jeanie! All that had passed bore for her the message, "We shall
not live with Godfrey any more."
Godfrey caught her arm. "Jeanie, _what_ did she say about the blue
envelope?"
"She said, `burn it,' if she told me, and she would perhaps tell me when
Guy came. She was wondering why he did not come all day. She had never
told us she wrote to him."
Godfrey dropped his hold and went on upstairs. He found Guy lying
still, with Cuthbert beside him. There was but little light through the
old-fashioned deep-set windows, and the room was full of the glow of the
fire.
"Must Guy see these papers?" said Cuthbert, moving. "Can't we manage
without troubling him?"
"I--I _cannot_ look at them without Guy," said Godfrey, in confused,
stammering accents.
"What is it?" said Guy. "About the funeral? Read it to me, I can
listen."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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