 the past. »But
there is a second will - there is a further document. We have not yet heard the
final wishes of the deceased.«
    Mary Garth was feeling that what they had yet to hear were not the final
wishes. The second will revoked everything except the legacies to the low
persons before mentioned (some alterations in these being the occasion of the
codicil), and the bequest of all the land lying in Lowick parish, with all the
stock and household furniture, to Joshua Rigg. The residue of the property was
to be devoted to the erection and endowment of almshouses for old men, to be
called Featherstone's Alms-Houses, and to be built on a piece of land near
Middlemarch already bought for the purpose by the testator, he wishing - so the
document declared - to please God Almighty. Nobody present had a farthing; but
Mr. Trumbull had the gold-headed cane. It took some time for the company to
recover the power of expression. Mary dared not look at Fred.
    Mr. Vincy was the first to speak - after using his snuff-box energetically -
and he spoke with loud indignation. »The most unaccountable will I ever heard! I
should say he was not in his right mind when he made it. I should say this last
will was void,« added Mr. Vincy, feeling that this expression put the thing in
the true light. »Eh, Standish?«
    »Our deceased friend always knew what he was about, I think,« said Mr.
Standish. »Everything is quite regular. Here is a letter from Clemmens of
Brassing tied with the will. He drew it up. A very respectable solicitor.«
    »I never noticed any alienation of mind - any aberration of intellect in the
late Mr. Featherstone,« said Borthrop Trumbull, »but I call this will eccentric.
I was always willingly of service to the old soul; and he intimated pretty
plainly a sense of obligation which would show itself in his will. The
gold-headed cane is farcical considered as an acknowledgment to me; but happily
I am above mercenary considerations.«
    »There's nothing very surprising in the matter that I can see,« said Caleb
Garth. »Anybody might have had more reason for wondering if the will had been
what you might expect from an open-minded straightforward man. For my part, I
wish there was no such thing as a will.«
    »That's a strange sentiment to come from a Christian man, by God!« said the
lawyer. »I
