When she ceased there was blank silence.
Mrs. Waltham was the first to find her voice.
'But surely Mr. Eldon won't take everything from you? I don't think
he has the power to--it wouldn't be just; there must be surely some
kind of provision in the law for such a thing. What did Mr. Yottle
say?'
'Only that Mr. Eldon could recover the whole estate.'
'The estate!' exclaimed Mrs. Waltham eagerly. 'But not the money?'
Adela smiled.
'The estate includes the money, mother. It means everything.'
'Oh, Adela!' sighed Letty, who sat with her hands on her lap,
bewildered.
'But surely not Mrs. Rodman's settlement?' cried the elder lady, who
was rapidly surveying the whole situation.
'Everything,' affirmed Adela.
'But what an extraordinary, what an unheard-of thing! Such injustice
I never knew! Oh, but Mr. Eldon is a gentleman--he can never exact
his legal rights to the full extent. He has too much delicacy of
feeling for that.' Adela glanced at her mother with a curious
openness of look--the expression which by apparent negation of
feeling reveals feeling of special significance. Mrs. Waltham caught
the glance and checked her flow of speech.
'Oh, he could never do that!' she murmured the next moment, in a
lower key, clasping her hands together upon her knees.
Pages:
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575