Mr Hogarths Will | Page 4

Chapter X.
Elsie's Literary Venture, and Its Success
Chapter XI.
Some Grave Talk In Gay Company
Chapter XII.
Mr. Brandon In Edinburgh
Chapter XIII.
Peggy's Visitors, And Francis' Resolution
Chapter XIV
Good News For Francis
Volume II.
Chapter I.
How Francis Received The Good News
Chapter II.
Jane's Situation

Chapter III.
Elsie's Situation
Chapter IV.
Elsie Refuses An Excellent Offer
Chapter V.
Elsie Accepts Of A New Situation
Chapter VI.
A Letter From Australia For Francis, Which Causes Surprise In An
Unexpected Quarter
Chapter VII.
Harriett Phillips Does A Little Bit Of Shopping, Which Is Somewhat
Fatal To Her Projects
Chapter VIII.
Francis Makes A Favourable Impression On Harriett Phillips
Chapter IX.
A Bonnet Gained And A Lover Lost
Chapter X.
A Seance
Chapter XI.
Spiritualism, Love, And Politics

Chapter XII.
Chiefly Political
Chapter XIII.
Good-Bye
Chapter XIV.
Francis Hogarth's Canvass And Election
Chapter XV.
Mrs. Phillips's First Grief
Chapter XVI.
Another Good-Bye
Volume III.
Chapter I.
Mr. Brandon's Second Proposal To Elsie, And Its Fate
Chapter II.
Mrs. Peck
Chapter III.
Raising The Wind
Chapter IV.
Miss Phillips Meets With A Congenial Spirit In Victoria

Chapter V.
Dr. Grant Prosecutes His Suit With Caution And Success, And
Brandon Finds His Love-Making All To Do Over Again
Chapter VI.
Mrs. Peck's Progress
Chapter VII.
Business Interrupted By Love
Chapter VIII.
Mrs. Phillips Is Relieved
Chapter IX.
Mrs. Peck's Communication
Chapter X.
Mrs. Peck's Disappointment
Chapter XI.
Elsie Melville's Letter
Chapter XII.
What Can Be Made Of It?
Chapter XIII.
Not So Bad, After All

Chapter XIV.
Meeting Epilogue

Volume I.
Chapter I.

The Will
In a large and handsomely-furnished room of a somewhat
old-fashioned house, situated in a rural district in the south of Scotland,
was assembled, one day in the early summer of 185-, a small group in
deep mourning.
Mr. Hogarth, of Cross Hall, had been taken suddenly ill a few days
previously, and had never recovered consciousness so far as to be able
to speak, though he had apparently known those who were about him,
and especially the two orphan nieces whom he had brought up as his
daughters. He had no other near relations whom any one knew of, and
had never been known to regret that the name of Hogarth, of Cross Hall,
was likely to become extinct. He had the reputation of being the most
eccentric man in the country, and was thought to be the most
inconsistent.
With the highest opinion possible of women, and the greatest pleasure
in their society, he had never married; and with the greatest affection
for his nieces, and the greatest theoretical confidence in them, he had
hedged them about with countless laws and restrictions, and had
educated them in a way quite different from the training of young
ladies of their rank and prospects. He had succeeded two childless elder
brothers in the possession of the estate; and Jane and Alice Melville
were the only children of his only sister, who had been dead for fifteen
years.

The funeral had just taken place, and the two girls had been summoned
into the drawing-room to hear the will read by Mr. MacFarlane, the
Edinburgh lawyer, who had drawn it out. They found in the room Mr.
Baird, their uncle's medical attendant, and a stranger whom they had
never seen before--a tall, grave-looking man of about thirty-four, whose
mourning was new, and who showed a deep interest in what was going
on.
Both the man of law and the man of medicine looked nervous and
embarrassed, and delayed proceeding to business as long as they
possibly could; fumbling with knots of red tape; opening the closed
curtains to admit a little more light, and then closing them again, as if
the light was too strong; so that the sisters had time to look at the
stranger, and to wonder who he was and what his business could be
there. He also seemed to be taking notes of the young ladies in a quiet,
timid manner.
At last the will was opened, and after the usual preamble, the lawyer's
voice seemed to break a little. He cleared his throat, and continued in a
lower tone----
"As I have come to the conclusion that the minds of men and women
are radically the same, and as I believe that if the latter are trained in
the same way as the former they will be equally capable of making
their own way in the world, I have acted upon this principle in the
education of my two beloved nieces, Jane and Alice Melville, the only
surviving children of my sister Mary Hogarth; and as I foresee that if I
were to leave them wealthy heiresses my purpose would be completely
thwarted, by Jane losing her independent character, and Alice sinking
into a confirmed invalid, and