If she did not make any will, her property would all go to her
grandson, who was so rich already that her fortune would be but as a drop
in the ocean to him; or to some great-grandchildren of whom she knew very
little,--the descendants of a daughter long ago dead who had married an
Austrian, and who were therefore foreigners both in birth and name. That
she should provide for little Mary was therefore a thing which nature
demanded, and which would hurt nobody. She had said so often; but she
deferred the doing of it as a thing for which there was no hurry. For why
should she die? There seemed no reason or need for it. So long as she
lived, nothing could be more sure, more happy and serene, than little
Mary's life; and why should she die? She did not perhaps put this into
words; but the meaning of her smile, and the manner in which she put
aside every suggestion about the chances of the hereafter away from her,
said it more clearly than words. It was not that she had any
superstitious fear about the making of a will. When the doctor or the
vicar or her man of business, the only persons who ever talked to her on
the subject, ventured periodically to refer to it, she assented
pleasantly,--yes, certainly, she must do it--some time or other.
"It is a very simple thing to do," the lawyer said.
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