"
"Does he wish me to see him, Mrs. Morton?"
"Not to-day, I think. He is not quite prepared to-day. But I wanted
to ask whether you could come at a moment's notice,--quite at a
moment's notice. I thought it better, so that you should know why
we sent for you if we did send,--so that you might be prepared. It
could be done here, I suppose?"
"It would be possible, Mrs. Morton."
"And you could do it?"
Then there was a long pause. "Altering a will is a very serious
thing, Mrs. Morton. And when it is done on what perhaps may be a
death-bed, it is a very serious thing indeed. Mr. Morton, I
believe, employs a London solicitor. I know the firm and more
respectable gentlemen do not exist. A telegram would bring down one
of the firm from London by the next train."
A frown, a very heavy frown, came across the old woman's brow. She
would have repressed it had it been possible;--but she could not
command herself, and the frown was there. "If that had been
practicable, Mr. Masters," she said, "we should not have sent for
you."
"I was only suggesting, madame, what might be the best course."
"Exactly. And of course I am much obliged. But if we are driven to
call upon you for your assistance, we shall find it?"
"Madame," said the attorney very slowly, "it is of course part of
my business to make wills, and when called upon to do so, I perform
my business to the best of my ability.
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