human
Now, my dear, I will answer the question you asked me before tea; and I shall do so at length, as what I am saying to you may be some sort of guide and assistance to Mr. Petersfield, who--from his late partner, Mr. Ransome, having had the management of Mr. Harmer's affairs--does not know very much of the business.
gpt
Thus you see, he concluded,
human
Strong inducements, my dear sir, Mr. Petersfield, who was a bachelor, said,
gpt
Mr. Petersfield, I said,
human
I apologize humbly, Miss Ashleigh, he said, smiling.
gpt
But really, he continued to papa,
human
Ah! what is to be done? papa repeated;
gpt
I do not think they will, Mr. Petersfield said;
human
and the lawyer rubbed his hands at the thought.
gpt
I give you my word, I never saw anything better done in the whole of my professional experience.
human
Yes, father, you actually alarmed me at the time; you were awfully impressive.
gpt
Was I? he said.
human
Well, I meant to be. I the women to be extremely superstitious; I have heard them confess to a belief in spirits and apparitions; and it flashed across me that the best thing I could do, to prevent them destroying the will, was to touch them on that score, and I do think it is safe for a time. One of the worst features to my mind is the appearance of that Father Eustace. Where does he come from? Who sent for him? They said he had come from abroad, and as he is an Italian, they must have telegraphed for him.
gpt
I think I can find that out, Harry said.
human
Dick Thornton, who is one of the telegraph clerks, was at school with me, and I have no doubt I can get out of him who the message was sent to, and who sent it, even if I cannot get the words themselves.
gpt
Do, Mr. Petersfield said;
human
By the way, Mr. Petersfield, papa said,
gpt
Not all; we keep the title-deeds of the property, and that sort of thing, but he himself keeps the copies of his tenants' leases, and papers of that kind, to which he may have occasion to refer in his dealings with them. But why do you ask the question?
human
It is a very important one, my dear sir, and I am pleased with your answer.
gpt
How so?
human
In this way: if the will had been the only important document at Harmer Place, it might have been kept in any of the drawers we searched to-day, and the Misses Harmer might have removed it last week, and either destroyed or concealed it in their rooms, or in any other place, where we could never find it. Now, we have every reason to believe it is not so, for in that case, they would have left the leases, and other documents, and we should have found them. It is quite clear to my mind, then, that Mr. Harmer had some secret place of concealment, to which he alluded when he told your clerk that all the burglars in the world could not find it; and in this place of concealment the whole of these papers, together with the will, are stowed away, and the Misses Harmer, who no doubt know of the existence of this place of concealment, will be perhaps content to let them remain there, and relying upon the secrecy of the hiding-place, will not be tempted to destroy the will.
gpt
Capital, my dear sir, Mr. Petersfield exclaimed energetically,
human
I can guess where it is,
gpt
Where?
human
In the 'priest's chamber,' wherever that may be, I answered.
gpt
I remember well, that when I was once talking to Mr. Harmer about the old times, and old houses and their hiding-places, he said that Harmer Place was celebrated as having one of the snuggest hiding-places in the kingdom, and that many a priest had lain hidden there for months. I asked him if he knew where it was, and he told me that he did; for that when a boy he had gone into it on some occasion or other with his father, and that when he came back and took possession of the house, he had again examined it, and found it such a snug hiding-place, that he used it as a sort of strong room; he promised that some day or other he would show it to me, but I never thought to ask him, and, unfortunately, he never mentioned it again.
human
By Jove, Harry exclaimed,
gpt
Sure enough, doctor, the will is in the 'priest's chamber.' The only question is, how are we to find it, and how are we to get into it when we do?
human
I should think there can be no difficulty about that, Harry said;
gpt
You would find a great difficulty in getting such a warrant.
human
Why so? Harry asked indignantly.
gpt
Do you mean to say that if we knew there was a will hidden in a certain place, which will left us all the property, that we should have no right to go in and search for it?
human
It would be a very delicate matter indeed, Mr. Petersfield said,