Adela sank upon the seat. Her ring! Had she picked it up? Yes; it
was again upon her finger. How had it chanced to fall down below?
She rose again and examined the cupboard; there was a gap of four or
five inches at the back of the upper shelf.
Had the will fallen in the same way? Adela conjectured that thus it
had been lost, though when or under what circumstances she could not
imagine. We, who are calmer, may conceive the old man to have taken
his will to church with him on the morning of his death, he being
then greatly troubled about the changes he had in view. Perhaps he
laid the folded parchment on the shelf and rested one of the large
books in front of it. He breathed his last. Then the old woman,
whose duty it was to put the pews in order, hurriedly throwing the
books into the cupboard as soon as the dead man was removed,
perchance pushed the document so far back that it slipped through
the gap and down behind the buffets.
At all events, no one has ever hit upon a likelier explanation.
CHAPTER XXIV
She could not sit through the service, yet to leave the church she
would have to walk the whole length of the aisle. What did it
matter? It would very soon be known why she had gone away, and to
face for a moment the wonder of Sunday-clad villagers is not a grave
trial.
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