"But you must remember rightly. You"ll have to swear to it. And now tell me this honestly; do you believe, in your heart, that he was in a condition fit for making a will?"
"I advised him not to make it."
"Why? why? What reason did you give?"
"I told him that I thought no man should alter family arrangements when he was so ill."
"Exactly. You told him that. And what did he say?"
"He was very angry, and made me send for Mr. Gogram."
"Now, Kate, think a little before you answer me again. If ever you are to do me a good turn, you must do it now. And remember this, I don"t at all want to take anything away from you. Whatever you think is fair you shall have."
He was a fool not to have known her better than that.
"I want nothing," she said, stopping, and stamping with her foot upon the crushed heather. "George, you don"t understand what it is to be honest."
He smiled,--with a slight provoking smile that pa.s.sed very rapidly from his face. The meaning of the smile was to be read, had Kate been calm enough to read it. "I can"t say that I do." That was the meaning of the smile. "Well, never mind about that," said he; "you advised my grandfather not to make his will,--thinking, no doubt, that his mind was not clear enough?"
She paused a moment again before she answered him. "His mind was clear," she said; "but I thought that he should not trust his judgement while he was so weak."
"Look here, Kate; I do believe that you at any rate have no mind to a.s.sist in this robbery. That it is a robbery you can"t have any doubt. I said he had left the estate to you. That is not what he has done. He has left the estate to my uncle John."
"Why tell me, then, what was untrue?"
"Are you disappointed?"
"Of course I am; uncle John won"t give it you. George, I don"t understand you; I don"t, indeed."
"Never mind about that, but listen to me. The estate is left in the hands of John Vavasor; but he has left you five hundred a year out of it till somebody is twenty-five years old who is not yet born, and probably never will be born. The will itself shows the old fool to have been mad."
"He was no more mad than you are, George."
"Listen to me, I tell you. I don"t mean that he was a raging maniac.
Now, you had advised him not to make any new will because you thought he was not in a fit condition?"
"Yes; I did."
"You can swear to that?"
"I hope I may not be called on to do so. I hope there may be no swearing about it. But if I am asked the question I must swear it."
"Exactly. Now listen till you understand what it is I mean. That will, if it stands, gives all the power over the estate to John Vavasor. It renders you quite powerless as regards any help or a.s.sistance that you might be disposed to give to me. But, nevertheless, your interest under the will is greater than his,--or than that of any one else,--for your son would inherit if I have none. Do you understand?"
"Yes; I think so."
"And your testimony as to the invalidity of the will would be conclusive against all the world."
"I would say in a court what I have told you, if that will do any good."
"It will not be enough. Look here, Kate; you must be steadfast here; everything depends on you. How often have you told me that you will stick to me throughout life? Now you will be tried."
Kate felt that her repugnance towards him,--towards all that he was doing and wished her to do,--was growing stronger within her at every word he spoke. She was becoming gradually aware that he desired from her something which she could not and would not do, and she was aware also that in refusing him she would have to encounter him in all his wrath. She set her teeth firmly together, and clenched her little fist. If a fight was necessary, she would fight with him. As he looked at her closely with his sinister eyes, her love towards him was almost turned to hatred.
"But that was what you meant when you advised him not to make the will because you thought his intellect was impaired!"
"No; not so."
"Stop, Kate, stop. If you will think of it, It was so. What is the meaning of his judgement being weak?"
"I didn"t say his judgement was weak."
"But that was what you meant when you advised him not to trust it!"
"Look here, George; I think I know now what you mean. If anybody asks me if his mind was gone, or his intellect deranged, I cannot say that there was anything of the kind."
"You will not?"
"Certainly not. It would be untrue."
"Then you are determined to throw me over and claim the property for yourself." Again he turned towards and looked at her as though he were resolved to frighten her. "And I am to count you also among my enemies? You had better take care, Kate."
They were now upon the fell side, more than three miles away from the Hall; and Kate, as she looked round, saw that they were all alone.
Not a cottage,--not a sign of humanity was within sight. Kate saw that it was so, and was aware that the fact pressed itself upon her as being of importance. Then she thought again of her resolution to fight with him, if any fight were necessary; to tell him, in so many words, that she would separate herself from him and defy him.
She would not fear him, let his words and face be ever so terrible!
Surely her own brother would do her no bodily harm. And even though he should do so,--though he should take her roughly by the arm as he had done to Alice,--though he should do worse than that, still she would fight him. Her blood was the same as his, and he should know that her courage was, at any rate, as high.
And, indeed, when she looked at him, she had cause to fear. He intended that she should fear. He intended that she should dread what he might do to her at that moment. As to what he would do he had no resolve made. Neither had he resolved on anything when he had gone to Alice and had shaken her rudely as she sat beside him. He had been guided by no fixed intent when he had attacked John Grey, or when he insulted the attorney; but a Fury was driving him, and he was conscious of being so driven. He almost wished to be driven to some act of frenzy. Everything in the world had gone against him, and he desired to expend his rage on some one.
"Kate," said he, stopping her, "we will have this out here, if you please. So much, at any rate, shall be settled to-day. You have made many promises to me, and I have believed them. You can now keep them all, by simply saying what you know to be the truth,--that that old man was a drivelling idiot when he made this will. Are you prepared to do me that justice? Think before you answer me, for, by G----, if I cannot have justice among you, I will have revenge." And he put his hand upon her breast up near to her throat.
"Take your hand down, George," said she. "I"m not such a fool that you can frighten me in that way."
"Answer me!" he said, and shook her, having some part of her raiment within his clutch.
"Oh, George, that I should live to be so ashamed of my brother!"
"Answer me," he said again; and again he shook her.
"I have answered you. I will say nothing of the kind that you want me to say. My grandfather, up to the latest moment that I saw him, knew what he was about. He was not an idiot. He was, I believe, only carrying out a purpose fixed long before. You will not make me change what I say by looking at me like that, nor get it by shaking me.
You don"t know me, George, if you think you can frighten me like a child."
He heard her to the last word, still keeping his hand upon her, and holding her by the cloak she wore; but the violence of his grasp had relaxed itself, and he let her finish her words, as though his object had simply been to make her speak out to him what she had to say.
"Oh," said he, when she had done, "That"s to be it; is it? That"s your idea of honesty. The very name of the money being your own has been too much for you. I wonder whether you and my uncle had contrived it all between you beforehand?"
"You will not dare to ask him, because he is a man," said Kate, her eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears, not through fear, but in very vexation at the nature of the charge he had brought against her.
"Shall I not? You will see what I dare do. As for you, with all your promises--. Kate, you know that I keep my word. Say that you will do as I desire you, or I will be the death of you."