I feel, as the
sands of life are fast ebbing out, that some great calamity is
lowering over you. I know not that a remark I accidentally
overheard should thus haunt me; but it has roused my suspicions,
and the presage of calamity will not depart from me. I cannot, with
the warning voice ever ringing in my mind, help taking steps to
guard you against the worst that may befall you.
"My dear child, if I should disclose my suspicions, and they should
prove unreasonable, I shall have done a grievous wrong to him I
suspect. Although you cannot save me from the misery of doubting in
my last hour, you can save me from injuring another in your good
opinion. If I have wronged him, let the injury die with me. If my
suspicions are not groundless, I offer you the means of saving
yourself from the calamity that impends.
"Should any event occur after my death which deprives you of any of
your inheritance, follow the directions I now give you.
"In the back of the lower drawer of the secretary you will find a
secret aperture.
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