feeling herself to blame for having grieved one who only meant aid
and kindness, came to her and fondly kissed her forehead, saying,
"I am not vexed, dear Rachel, I know you are right. I am not clever
enough to bring them up properly, but if I try hard, and pray for
them, it may be made up to them. And you will help me, Rachel dear,"
she added, as her readiest woe-offering for her tears, and it was the
most effectual, for Rachel was perfectly contented as long as Fanny
was dependent on her, and allowed her to assume her mission, provided
only that the counter influence could be averted, and this Major,
this universal referee, be eradicated from her foolish clinging
habits of reliance before her spirits were enough recovered to lay
her heart open to danger.

But the more Rachel saw of her cousin, the more she realized this
peril. When she went down on Monday morning to complete the matters
of business that had been slurred over on the Saturday, she found
that Fanny had not the slightest notion what her own income was to
be. All she knew was that her General had left everything
unreservedly to herself, except £100 and one of his swords to Major
Keith, who was executor to the will, and had gone to London to "see
about it," by which word poor Fanny expressed all the business that
her maintenance depended on. If an old general wished to put a major
in temptation, could he have found a better means of doing so?
Rachel even thought that Fanny's incapacity to understand business
had made her mistake the terms of the bequest, and that Sir Stephen
must have secured his property to his children; but Fanny was
absolutely certain that this was not the case, for she said the Major
had made her at once sign a will dividing the property among them,
and appointing himself and her Aunt Curtis their guardians. "I did
not like putting such a charge on my dear aunt," said Fanny, "but the