"Can we declare that he acted under undue influence; or, in plainer
terms, under the influence of Mrs. Lecount?
"There are serious difficulties, again, in the way of taking this
course. We cannot assert, for example, that Mrs. Lecount has assumed
a place in the will which she has no fair claim to occupy. She has
cunningly limited her own legacy, not only to what is fairly due her,
but to what the late Mr. Michael Vanstone himself had the intention of
leaving her. If I were examined on the subject, I should be compelled
to acknowledge that I had heard him express this intention myself. It is
only the truth to say that I have heard him express it more than once.
There is no point of attack in Mrs. Lecount's legacy, and there is no
point of attack in your late husband's choice of an executor. He
has made the wise choice, and the natural choice, of the oldest and
trustiest friend he had in the world.
"One more consideration remains--the most important which I have yet
approached, and therefore the consideration which I have reserved to
the last. On the thirtieth of September, the Testator executes a will,
leaving his widow sole executrix, with a legacy of eighty thousand
pounds.
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