In the meantime, and while the suit was pending, the conduct of Alice
was both generous and disinterested. She pressed her parents to allow
her, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to renounce the
bequest, inasmuch as she thought that Mr. Hamilton's relatives had a
stronger and prior claim. This, however, they peremptorily refused to
do.
"I care not for money," said her father, "nor have I much to spare;
but you must consider, my dear Alice, that the act upon the part of Mr.
Hamilton was a spontaneous demise of his own property, as a reward to
you on behalf of his daughter, for the affection which you bore her, and
which subsisted between you. You were her nurse, her friend, her sister;
you tended her night and day during her long illness, even to the injury
of your health, and almost at the risk of your very life. Suppose,
for instance, that Mr. Hamilton had had male heirs; in that case, the
Lindsays would have been just as they are, perhaps not so well; for he
might not have left them even a legacy. Then, they unjustly tax us with
fraud, circumvention, and the practice of undue influence; and, indeed,
have endeavored to stamp an indelible stain upon your character and
honor.
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