I confess that as I thought about it, I found her endless capacity to suspend judgment … very attractive. I mean … the recessiveness of spirit that made her so lovely, even gallant, would appeal to any man who wanted endless reception, endless soft reception of whatever outrage he could conceive. But then there was the boy: I hadn’t realized I was so moved by him—a sturdy, solemn, forbearing boy reading his book, a reader—was that it?—does the old bachelor merely have to see a child reading a book to lose his critical faculties?Augustus had been worth millions. How was it possible? I had asked the woman. What on earth had happened?“Every day I speak with this lawyer, or that, and ask the same question. It’s become my life’s work. My husband was a very secretive man. For different matters he hired different attorneys. In that way no one would know more than a part of his business…. We, Noah and I, are the sole heirs, according to the will. That is not in question … but exactly what happened to our legacy … where it went … is not clear.
