You are always fretting and fidgeting over it."
"It is not I who am fancying that these burglars came after the will,"
Eleanor answered in an aggrieved voice.
"No; that is the way with timid people," Miss Penfold said. "They are
often afraid of shadows, and see no danger where danger really exists.
At any rate, I am determined to see whether the will really is where
we suppose it to be. If it is I shall take it out and hide it in the
mattress of my bed. We know that it will be safe there at any rate as
long as I live, though I think it wiser to destroy it."
"No, no," Eleanor exclaimed; "anything but that. I sleep badly enough
now, and am always dreaming that Herbert is standing by my bedside
with a reproachful look upon his face. I should never dare sleep at
all if we were to destroy it."
"I have no patience with such childish fancies, as I told you over and
over again," Miss Penfold said sharply. "If I am ready to take the
risk of doing it, I do not see that you need fret about it. However, I
am ready to give in to your prejudices, and indeed would rather not
destroy it myself if it can be safely kept elsewhere. At any rate I
shall move it from its hiding-place. We know that it is there and
nowhere else that it will be searched for, and with it in my room we
need have no more uneasiness. I can unsew the straw _pailliasse_ at
the bottom of my bed, and when it is safely in there I shall have no
fear whatever.
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