MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 53 



" Would you like all concerned to be present ? " Mr. 

 Bailey, the family solicitor, asked deferentially of Miss 

 Badsworth. 



" Certainly," was the reply, though there was for the 

 moment the look of a person who is cornered upon the 

 lady's face ; the expression changed as Miss Badsworth 

 metaphorically put her back to the wall. " Certainly, by 

 all means," she repeated. 



And so it came about that there assembled in the dining- 

 room of Cranston a goodly array of domestics and retainers ; 

 they were reverently drawn up at one end of the room. 



The authorities had held a brief committee meeting outside 

 as to the method of procedure. Mr. Joseph Summers had laid 

 it down that it would not do to hunt with a mixed pack on so 

 solemn an occasion ; that the dog pack should be on one 



side, and the Here the housekeeper had broken in with 



" Hush, Mr. Summers ; I think you are right, notwithstand- 

 ing," and had passed majestically into the room, followed by 

 the maid-servants, as one who knows her place. 



The members of the family, Charles and Lavinia Bads- 

 worth and Victor Bickersdyke, filed slowly in, followed by 

 the lawyer and Mr. John Morgan, the sole surviving executor. 



" Pray be seated," Mr. Bailey said nervously, spreading 

 some papers on the table and taking a chair. He cleared 

 his throat, and there was a shuffle of feet as those at the far 

 end obeyed orders as well as they could with two chairs 

 short. 



The family portraits gazed down from the wall as though 

 they would say "we have no interest in these proceedings," 

 all except the picture of the late Squire of Cranston himself, 

 presented to him after a twenty-five years' mastership. 

 There was a twinkle in his eye which Victor Bickersdyke, 

 who would have given much for a whisky and soda, took 

 as personal, and looked away. 



*'The last Will and Testament of Hugo Badsworth of 

 Cranston Lodge, in the county of Dumpshire," read Mr. 

 Bailey rapidly, and then proceeded to confuse his hearers 



