It grieves me to think that Janet cannot, through my act, be given
    that ease and tranquillity of spirit which come from competence. But, my dear Rupert, you will be of full age in seven years more. Then, if you are in the same mind--and I am sure you will not
    change--you, being your own master, can do freely as you will. In
    the meantime, to secure, so far as I can, my dear Janet against any
    malign stroke of fortune, I have given orders to my factor to remit
    semi-annually to Janet one full half of such income as may be derived
    in any form from my estate of Croom. It is, I am sorry to say,
    heavily mortgaged; but of such as is--or may be, free from such
    charge as the mortgage entails--something at least will, I trust,
    remain to her. And, my dear boy, I can frankly say that it is to me
    a real pleasure that you and I can be linked in one more bond in this
    association of purpose. I have always held you in my heart as though
    you were my own son. Let me tell you now that you have acted as I
    should have liked a son of my own, had I been blessed with one, to
    have acted. God bless you, my dear. Yours ever,
                                                    COLIN ALEX. MACKELPIE. _Letter from Roger Melton_, _of Openshaw Grange_, _to Rupert Sent Leger_,
_Esq._, 14, _Newland Park_, _Dulwich_, _London_, _S.E._

                                                           _July_ 1, 1892. MY DEAR NEPHEW,

    Your letter of the 30th ult. received. Have carefully considered
    matter stated, and have come to the conclusion that my duty as a
    trustee would not allow me to give full consent, as you wish. Let me
    explain. The testator, in making her will, intended that such
    fortune as she had at disposal should be used to supply to you her
    son such benefits as its annual product should procure. To this end,
    and to provide against wastefulness or foolishness on your part, or,
    indeed, against any generosity, howsoever worthy, which might
    impoverish you and so defeat her benevolent intentions regarding your
    education, comfort, and future good, she did not place the estate
    directly in your hands, leaving you to do as you might feel inclined
    about it. But, on the contrary, she entrusted the corpus of it in
    the hands of men whom she believed should be resolute enough and
    strong enough to carry out her intent, even against any cajolements
    or pressure which might be employed to the contrary. It being her
    intention, then, that such trustees as she appointed would use for
    your benefit the interest accruing annually from the capital at
    command, _and that only_ (as specifically directed in the will), so
    that on your arriving at full age the capital entrusted to us should
    be handed over to you intact, I find a hard-and-fast duty in the
    matter of adhering exactly to the directions given. I have no doubt
    that my co-trustees regard the matter in exactly the same light. Under the circumstances, therefore, we, the trustees, have not only a
    single and united duty towards you as the object of the testator's
    wishes, but towards each other as regards the manner of the carrying
    out of that duty. I take it, therefore, that it would not be
    consonant with the spirit of the trust or of our own ideas in
    accepting it that any of us should take a course pleasant to himself
    which would or might involve a stern opposition on the part of other
    of the co-trustees. We have each of us to do the unpleasant part of
    this duty without fear or favour. You understand, of course, that
    the time which must elapse before you come into absolute possession
    of your estate is a limited one. As by the terms of the will we are
    to hand over our trust when you have reached the age of twenty-one,
    there are only seven years to expire. But till then, though I should
    gladly meet your wishes if I could, I must adhere to the duty which I
    have undertaken. At the expiration of that period you will be quite
    free to divest yourself of your estate without protest or comment of
    any man. Having now expressed as clearly as I can the limitations by which I
    am bound with regard to the corpus of your estate, let me say that in
    any other way which is in my power or discretion I shall be most
    happy to see your wishes carried out so far as rests with me. Indeed, I shall undertake to use what influence I may possess with my
    co-trustees to induce them to take a similar view of your wishes. In
    my own thinking you are quite free to use your own property in your
    own way. But as, until you shall have attained your majority, you
    have only life-user in your mother's bequest, you are only at liberty
    to deal with the annual increment. On our part as trustees we have a
    first charge on that increment to be used for purposes of your
    maintenance, clothes, and education. As to what may remain over each
    half-year, you will be free to deal with it as you choose. On
    receiving from you a written authorization to your trustees, if you
    desire the whole sum or any part of it to be paid over to Miss Janet
    MacKelpie, I shall see that it is effected. Believe me, that our
    duty is to protect the corpus of the estate, and to this end we may
    not act on any instruction to imperil it. But there our warranty
    stops. We can deal during our trusteeship with the corpus only. Further, lest there should arise any error on your part, we can deal
    with any general instruction for only so long as it may remain
    unrevoked. You are, and must be, free to alter your instructions or
    authorizations at any time. Thus your latest document must be used
    for our guidance. As to the general principle involved in your wish I make no comment. You are at liberty to deal with your own how you will. I quite
    understand that your impulse is a generous one, and I fully believe
    that it is in consonance with what had always been the wishes of my
    sister. Had she been happily alive and had to give judgment of your
    intent, I am convinced that she would have approved. Therefore, my
    dear nephew, should you so wish, I shall be happy for her sake as
    well as your own to pay over on your account (as a confidential
    matter between you and me), but from my own pocket, a sum equal to
    that which you wish transferred to Miss Janet MacKelpie. On hearing
    from you I shall know how to act in the matter. With all good
    wishes,

                                                         Believe me to be,
                                                  Your affectionate uncle,
                                                             ROGER MELTON. TO RUPERT SENT LEGER, ESQ. _Letter from Rupert Sent Leger to Roger Melton_,

                                                           _July_ 5, 1892.