The Lady of the Shroud | Page 7

the
most intense pleasure. It is an unspeakable delight to me to find in the
son of your father--a man whom I loved, and a boy whom I love-- the
same generosity of spirit which endeared your father to all his
comrades, old as well as young. Come what may, I shall always be
proud of you; and if the sword of an old soldier--it is all I have-- can
ever serve you in any way, it and its master's life are, and shall be,
whilst life remains to him, yours.
It grieves me to think that Janet cannot, through my act, be given that
ease and tranquillity of spirit which come from competence. But, my
dear Rupert, you will be of full age in seven years more. Then, if you
are in the same mind--and I am sure you will not change- -you, being
your own master, can do freely as you will. In the meantime, to secure,
so far as I can, my dear Janet against any malign stroke of fortune, I

have given orders to my factor to remit semi-annually to Janet one full
half of such income as may be derived in any form from my estate of
Croom. It is, I am sorry to say, heavily mortgaged; but of such as is--or
may be, free from such charge as the mortgage entails--something at
least will, I trust, remain to her. And, my dear boy, I can frankly say
that it is to me a real pleasure that you and I can be linked in one more
bond in this association of purpose. I have always held you in my heart
as though you were my own son. Let me tell you now that you have
acted as I should have liked a son of my own, had I been blessed with
one, to have acted. God bless you, my dear.
Yours ever, COLIN ALEX. MACKELPIE.
Letter from Roger Melton, of Openshaw Grange, to Rupert Sent Leger,
Esq., 14, Newland Park, Dulwich, London, S.E. July 1, 1892.
MY DEAR NEPHEW,
Your letter of the 30th ult. received. Have carefully considered matter
stated, and have come to the conclusion that my duty as a trustee would
not allow me to give full consent, as you wish. Let me explain. The
testator, in making her will, intended that such fortune as she had at
disposal should be used to supply to you her son such benefits as its
annual product should procure. To this end, and to provide against
wastefulness or foolishness on your part, or, indeed, against any
generosity, howsoever worthy, which might impoverish you and so
defeat her benevolent intentions regarding your education, comfort, and
future good, she did not place the estate directly in your hands, leaving
you to do as you might feel inclined about it. But, on the contrary, she
entrusted the corpus of it in the hands of men whom she believed
should be resolute enough and strong enough to carry out her intent,
even against any cajolements or pressure which might be employed to
the contrary. It being her intention, then, that such trustees as she
appointed would use for your benefit the interest accruing annually
from the capital at command, AND THAT ONLY (as specifically
directed in the will), so that on your arriving at full age the capital
entrusted to us should be handed over to you intact, I find a
hard-and-fast duty in the matter of adhering exactly to the directions

given. I have no doubt that my co-trustees regard the matter in exactly
the same light. Under the circumstances, therefore, we, the trustees,
have not only a single and united duty towards you as the object of the
testator's wishes, but towards each other as regards the manner of the
carrying out of that duty. I take it, therefore, that it would not be
consonant with the spirit of the trust or of our own ideas in accepting it
that any of us should take a course pleasant to himself which would or
might involve a stern opposition on the part of other of the co-trustees.
We have each of us to do the unpleasant part of this duty without fear
or favour. You understand, of course, that the time which must elapse
before you come into absolute possession of your estate is a limited one.
As by the terms of the will we are to hand over our trust when you have
reached the age of twenty-one, there are only seven years to expire. But
till then, though I should gladly meet your wishes if I could, I must
adhere to the duty which I have undertaken. At the expiration of that
period you will be quite free to divest yourself of your estate without
protest or comment