CHAPTER XXX 451
" Only it forces rather strongly on the mind the picture of what MIGHT HAVE BEEN ," said Mr . Rivers , " and contrasts it somewhat too vividly with what IS ."
He folded the letter , locked it in his desk , and again went out . For some minutes no one spoke . Diana then turned to me .
" Jane , you will wonder at us and our mysteries ," she said , " and think us hard-hearted beings not to be more moved at the death of so near a relation as an uncle ; but we have never seen him or known him . He was my mother ' s brother . My father and he quarrelled long ago . It was by his advice that my father risked most of his property in the speculation that ruined him . Mutual recrimination passed between them : they parted in anger , and were never reconciled . My uncle engaged afterwards in more prosperous undertakings : it appears he realised a fortune of twenty thousand pounds . He was never married , and had no near kindred but ourselves and one other person , not more closely related than we . My father always cherished the idea that he would atone for his error by leaving his possessions to us ; that letter informs us that he has bequeathed every penny to the other relation , with the exception of thirty guineas , to be divided between St . John , Diana , and Mary Rivers , for the purchase of three mourning rings . He had a right , of course , to do as he pleased : and yet a momentary damp is cast on the spirits by the receipt of such news . Mary and I would have esteemed ourselves rich with a thousand pounds each ; and to St . John such a sum would have been valuable , for the good it would have enabled him to do ."
This explanation given , the subject was dropped , and no further reference made to it by either Mr . Rivers or his sisters . The next day I left Marsh End for Morton . The day after , Diana and Mary quitted it for distant B- . In a week , Mr . Rivers and Hannah repaired to the parsonage : and so the old grange was abandoned .