The bureau, and the drawers, and the boxes which contained the papers of the deceased were open; their contents had been ransacked; no certificate of the private marriage, no hint of such an event; not a paper found to signify the last wishes of the rich dead man.
He had died, and made no sign.

Mr.Robert Beaufort's countenance was still and composed.
A knock at the door was heard; the lawyer entered.
"Sir, the undertakers are here, and Mr.Greaves has ordered the bells to be rung: at three o'clock he will read the service." "I am obliged to you., Blackwell, for taking these melancholy offices on yourself.

My poor brother!--it is so sudden! But the funeral, you say, ought to take place to-day ?" "The weather is so warm," said the lawyer, wiping his forehead.

As he spoke, the death-bell was heard.
There was a pause.
"It would have been a terrible shock to Mrs.Morton if she had been his wife," observed Mr.Blackwell.

"But I suppose persons of that kind have very little feeling.