she regarded herself the guardian.

Till she had actually unlocked the sloping lid of the old-fashioned
bureau, it did not occur to her that she did not know either what the
will was like, nor yet the magnum bonum, which was scarcely likely to
be so ticketed. She only saw piles of letters and papers, marked,
some with people's names, some with a Greek or Latin word, or one of
the curious old Arabic signs, for which her father had always a turn,
having, as his mother used to tell him, something of the alchemist in
his composition. One of these parcels, fastened with elastic rings,
must be magnum bonum, and Janet, though without much chance of
distinguishing it, was reading the labels with a strange, sad
fascination, when, long before she had expected him, her uncle stood
before her, with greatly astonished and displeased looks, and the
word "Janet."

She coloured scarlet, but answered boldly, "There was something that
I know father did not want anyone but mother to see."

"Of course there is much," said her uncle, gravely--"much that I am
fitter to judge, of than any little girl."

Words cannot express the offence thus given to Janet. Something
swelled in her throat as if to suffocate her, but there could be no
reply, and to burst out crying would only make him think her younger
still; so as he turned to his mournful task, she ensconced herself in
a high-backed chair, and watched him from under her dark brows.

She might comfort herself by the perception that he was less likely
than even herself to recognise the magnum bonum. He would scarcely