Pawle indicated.
"Aye!" he said. "A most important, most valuable piece of evidence. You
see that Cortelyon's name is mentioned in it. What's he say--'_The only
man besides myself who is in full possession of the facts_,' Gad--that'll
hang this scoundrel! Yes, here it is--the full history of the case, very
lucidly summarized; he must have been a very good business man, this
unfortunate Ashton, poor fellow! But what's this he's put at the end, as
a sort of note?"
"'Since arriving in England and making inquiries in London and about
Marketstoke and Ellingham as to the character and abilities of the young
man who is the present holder of the title and estates which are by right
my ward's I have had considerable doubt as to whether or not I should
exercise the discretion extended to me by her father. Having nobody of my
own, I have left her all my fortune, which is a handsome one, and she
will be a rich woman. The young man seems to be an estimable and
promising young fellow, and I am much exercised in mind as to whether it
might not be best if Cortelyon and I kept the secret to ourselves until
our deaths.
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