Grandfather makes his will
A few weeks after the family’s first visit to the ailing judge, he sends for a notary to formalize his will, as his illness has advanced from his legs to his stomach and he is conscious of his impending death.
Second visit to grandfather’s deathbed
Per the grandfather’s request that all his descendants visit him before he dies, the narrator and his uncle make a second trip to his deathbed, joining a crowd of relations gathered in his chamber. The uncle offers the dying man unorthodox, crude consolation that scandalizes the other attendees, particularly the parish parson.
Uncle’s deathbed comments
After the group retreats to another room to escape the uncle’s irreverent remarks, a piteous yell from the grandfather’s chamber confirms his death. When the group returns to the room, the uncle interprets a recent dream as a portent of the death, making crude comparisons between the grandfather’s passing and a dead shark being carried to the bottom of the sea by the devil, which infuriates the parson and sparks a heated argument.
Grandfather’s death
The group confirms the grandfather’s death after hearing the distress cries of the young women attending him in his final moments. The family’s heir, the young squire, pretends to grief, asking tearfully if his grandfather is truly deceased, and the uncle bluntly confirms the death, further escalating tensions with the outraged parson who condemns his irreverence.
Conjectures about the will’s contents
While waiting for the formal will reading scheduled after the grandfather’s funeral, family members speculate about the will’s contents. Aware the grandfather holds a £700 annual landed estate and £6,000 to £7,000 in interest-bearing funds, guesses include the young squire inheriting all real estate with the personal funds split between the narrator and his five female cousins, or the bulk of the money going to the narrator to atone for the grandfather’s mistreatment of his father, with smaller legacies for the granddaughters.
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