while to realize that he isn't still asleep. To be really affluent at last - to be able to repay all the kindness that people have shown one in the past, because I always say that it's just the art of being kind that's all this sad world needs. You know, my dear, as we grow older we do like to do a little of the giving as well as the taking in the material things of life. I have always tried to be a spiritual giver. But circumstances have often compelled me to be a material borrower. I've tried to take generously, because I always say that it takes two to make a gracious gift, the generous giver and the generous taker. But there comes a time when one would like to be the giver for a change. And so you see how doubly glad I was when I realized that it might be in my power
not only to repay, but to enrich those who have helped me.'
'Yes, of course,' murmured Eleanor inadequately.
'That's why I made my Will as I did.' She turned and rummaged among the papers in her desk, opening drawer after drawer, each of which spilled new contributions to the general confusion on the floor. But at last she found a long blue envelope. 'Ah. Here it is. I want you to read this, my dear. Just in case.'
In just what case, Eleanor did not know; but she took the envelope and drew from it a long blue document, written in Caroline's delicate sloping hand.
'The last Will and Testament of Caroline Audrey Denton-Smyth, Journalist and Secretary, of 40 Lucretia Road, West Kensington, in the County of London.
'I, Caroline Audrey Denton-Smyth, being in my right mind and in active bodily health do hereby cancel and revoke all other wills, testaments, and legacies whatsoever that I may at any former time have made. And I will and bequeath hereby to my dear friend and cousin Enid Smith of Marshington in the County of Yorkshire, and to her hus band, Robert Harold Smith, 10,000 Ordinary £1 Shares in the Christian Cinema Company, to be held jointly if both are alive when this Will comes into force, or severally by the survivor. And I will and bequeath to my dear cousin John Robert Smith, son of the above, the sum of £500, and to my dear cousins Dorothy and Elizabeth Smith, sisters of the above John Robert, and to his brother Harold, the sum of £250 each. To my cousin the Reverend Ernest Albert Smith, Rector of Flynders in the County of Lincolnshire I will and bequeath 1,000 £i shares in the Christian Cinema Company, in the hope that he will continue to use his in fluence as a clergyman to bring the Church of England to a full sense of its Responsibility in the matter of the Purifica tion of the Amusements of the People. To my nephews, Claude and William, sons of my late dear sister Daisy Shot-well (n é e Smyth) of Newcastle-on-Tyne, I leave the sum of £50 each in token of my true forgiveness of all their past neglect. To my friend and landlady, Eliza Hales of 40 Lucretia Road, I leave the sum of £200 in gratitude for all her kindness and consideration to me, and in testimony to our sisterhood in Christ through the Fellowship of St. Augustine's Church. The rest of my fortune I leave to the Church Fund of Saint Augustine's, Fulham, in the County of London, in memory of all the inspiration and help that it has been to me in my lonely work of pioneering, and in the hope that my friends there may see fit to commemorate any small service that I may have been able to render to my fellows by a memorial tablet to be placed near the pew in the Southern transept where I used to worship.'
Eleanor read to the end and sat silent, the document in her hands, her face bent over it.
'Well? Well?'asked Caroline. 'What do you think of it? It's fair, isn't it? It gives an impression of Christian justice and magnanimity, doesn't it? Or do you think I ought not to say that about forgiving my nephews? But you know, my dear, I always say that bitterness is the first infirmity of ig noble minds, but really they might have written or come to see me when they were in
not only to repay, but to enrich those who have helped me.'
'Yes, of course,' murmured Eleanor inadequately.
'That's why I made my Will as I did.' She turned and rummaged among the papers in her desk, opening drawer after drawer, each of which spilled new contributions to the general confusion on the floor. But at last she found a long blue envelope. 'Ah. Here it is. I want you to read this, my dear. Just in case.'
In just what case, Eleanor did not know; but she took the envelope and drew from it a long blue document, written in Caroline's delicate sloping hand.
'The last Will and Testament of Caroline Audrey Denton-Smyth, Journalist and Secretary, of 40 Lucretia Road, West Kensington, in the County of London.
'I, Caroline Audrey Denton-Smyth, being in my right mind and in active bodily health do hereby cancel and revoke all other wills, testaments, and legacies whatsoever that I may at any former time have made. And I will and bequeath hereby to my dear friend and cousin Enid Smith of Marshington in the County of Yorkshire, and to her hus band, Robert Harold Smith, 10,000 Ordinary £1 Shares in the Christian Cinema Company, to be held jointly if both are alive when this Will comes into force, or severally by the survivor. And I will and bequeath to my dear cousin John Robert Smith, son of the above, the sum of £500, and to my dear cousins Dorothy and Elizabeth Smith, sisters of the above John Robert, and to his brother Harold, the sum of £250 each. To my cousin the Reverend Ernest Albert Smith, Rector of Flynders in the County of Lincolnshire I will and bequeath 1,000 £i shares in the Christian Cinema Company, in the hope that he will continue to use his in fluence as a clergyman to bring the Church of England to a full sense of its Responsibility in the matter of the Purifica tion of the Amusements of the People. To my nephews, Claude and William, sons of my late dear sister Daisy Shot-well (n é e Smyth) of Newcastle-on-Tyne, I leave the sum of £50 each in token of my true forgiveness of all their past neglect. To my friend and landlady, Eliza Hales of 40 Lucretia Road, I leave the sum of £200 in gratitude for all her kindness and consideration to me, and in testimony to our sisterhood in Christ through the Fellowship of St. Augustine's Church. The rest of my fortune I leave to the Church Fund of Saint Augustine's, Fulham, in the County of London, in memory of all the inspiration and help that it has been to me in my lonely work of pioneering, and in the hope that my friends there may see fit to commemorate any small service that I may have been able to render to my fellows by a memorial tablet to be placed near the pew in the Southern transept where I used to worship.'
Eleanor read to the end and sat silent, the document in her hands, her face bent over it.
'Well? Well?'asked Caroline. 'What do you think of it? It's fair, isn't it? It gives an impression of Christian justice and magnanimity, doesn't it? Or do you think I ought not to say that about forgiving my nephews? But you know, my dear, I always say that bitterness is the first infirmity of ig noble minds, but really they might have written or come to see me when they were in
Similar Books
