Finch, that my temper is somewhat
impatient. If you come as a friend, my hospitality is yours for as
long as you care to use it; but I'd take it kindly if you came to the
heart of your business at once."
"To be sure, sir, and a very proper attitude. I plunge, then, into
the middle of affairs. You will doubtless remember Silvanus
Tellworthy, younger brother of the late Sir Jabez Tellworthy whose
virtues recently ceased to adorn this neighbourhood."
"Perfectly."
"His conscience led him to exchange this country, in the thirty-fifth
year of his age, for a soil more amical to his religious opinions."
"I have heard 'twas for fear of the attentions of a widow in Harwich;
but proceed."
"After amassing a considerable fortune he died, sir, of a paralytical
stroke, upon the 12th of November last."
"I am sorry to hear it."
"That was the common expression of Boston at the time. Dismissing
for a more leisurely occasion the consideration of his civic virtues,
I may say that I had the honour to possess his confidence in the
double capacity of friend and legal adviser. It fell to me to draw
up his will, some few years before his decease; and now I am left to
the task of giving it effect. He was a childless man, and, with the
exception of some trifling legacies to the town of Boston and a few
private friends, bequeathed his wealth to his only niece, Margaret,
daughter of the Sir Jabez Tellworthy already mentioned, and her
heirs.
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