328
WYLDER'S HAA'D.
If this letter was true there was not a moment to be
lost in bringing the purchase of the Vicar's reversion to a
point. The possibilities were positively dazzling. They
were worth risking something.
Now, under the pressure of this enquiry, a thing struck
Mr. Larkin, strangely enough, which he had quite over-
looked before. There were certain phrases in the will of
the late Mr. Wylder which limited a large portion of the
great estate in strict settlement. Of course an attorney's
op.nion upon a question of real property is not conclusive.
Still they can't help knowing something of the barrister's
special province; and these words were very distinct —
in fact, they stunted down the Vicar's reversion in the
greater p^rt of the property to a strict life estate.
Long did the attorney pore over his copy of the will,
with his finger and thumb closed on his under lip. The
language was quite explicit — there was no way out of
it. It was strictly a life estate. How could he have
overlooked that? His boy, indeed, would take an estate
tail — and could disentail whenever — if ever — he came
of age. But that was in the clouds. Mackleston-on-the
Moor, however, and the Great Barnford estate, were un-
affected by these limitations; and the rental which he
now carefully consulted, told him these jointly were in
round numbers worth 2,300/. a year, and improvable.
This letter of Dutton's, to be sure, may turn out to be
all a lie or a blunder. But it may prove to be strictly
true; and in that case it will be every. thing that the
deed should be executed and the purchase completed be-
fore the arrival of this person, and the public notification
of Mark Wylder's death.
Another thought now struck him for the first time.
Was there no mode of "hedging," so that whether Mark
Wylder were living or dead the attorney should stand to
win?