His eldest son had possessed them, but not
that son's son. There was such a Eustace born, but he had died before his
father. The younger son of that old Sir Florian had then succeeded as Sir
Thomas, and he was the father of that Florian who had married Lizzie
Eustace. That last Sir Florian had therefore been the fourth in succession
from the old Sir Florian by whom the will had been made, and who had
directed that these jewels should be regarded as heirlooms in the family.
The two intermediate baronets had made no allusion to the diamonds in any
deeds executed by them. Indeed, Sir Florian's father had died without a
will. There were other jewels, larger but much less valuable than the
diamonds, still in the hands of the Messrs. Garnett, as to which no
question was raised. The late Sir Florian had, by his will, left all the
property in his house at Portray to his widow, but all property elsewhere
to his heir. This was what Mr. Camperdown had at last learned, but he had
been forced to admit to himself, while learning this, that there was
confusion.
He was confident enough, however, that there was no difficulty in the
matter.
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