Wilson to watch the case. Mr. John
Short then explained to Bessie the need there was that she should be
prepared for any event: a rally of consciousness was what he hoped for,
perfect, whether tending to recovery or the precursor of dissolution.
For he knew of no will that Mr. Frederick had made, and he knew that
since the discovery of Mr. Laurence's marriage the squire had destroyed
the last will of his own making, and that he had not even drawn out a
rough scheme of his further intentions. The entailed estates were of
course inalienable--those must pass to his son and his son's son--but
there were houses and lands besides over which he had the power of
settlement. Bessie listened, but found it very hard to give her mind to
these considerations, and said so.
"My uncle Laurence is the person to talk to," she suggested.
"Probably he will arrive before the day is over, but you are to be
thought of, you are to be provided for, Miss Fairfax."
"Oh, I don't care for myself at all," said Bessie.
"The more need, then, that some one else should care for you," replied
Mr. John Short.
Inquirers daily besieged Abbotsmead for news of the squire. Mr.
Laurence Fairfax came over, and Mr. John Short stayed on, expecting his
opportunity, while slowly the old man recovered up to a certain point.
But his constitution was permanently weakened and his speech indistinct.
Jonquil, Macky, and Mrs. Betts were his nurses, and the first person
that he was understood to ask for was Elizabeth.
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