If Henry Francis yielded to temptation there were extenuating
circumstances. In the first place, Robert Palmer's will distinctly
stated that everything was left to the judgment of the executors. They
were to stand firm and resolute on their own judgment "and take time to
settle the concern whether it need one year or twenty years."
Possibly Francis reasoned that investing the old man's money in a
certain way would, within a very few years, double the estate, and thus
render a service to the heirs. And if at the end of three or four years
the event had proved the soundness of his judgment, was it wrong to
exercise that judgment in further ventures? The will gave him twenty
years. Weren't the executors acting "at all times and under all
circumstances to the best of their judgment?" If conscience demurred
that Hintzen and Haggerty were left in the dark, so that "their
judgment" had come to mean simply the judgment of Henry Francis, had he
not proved that judgment good?
He knew that when he had given the heirs to understand that there was no
property, he had prevaricated. But had he not heard their pleas with
patience, just as the old man had directed? And if Robert Palmer's
estate were settled right then, at the end of four years, would the
heirs complain of circumstances which had doubled their inheritance? No
doubt conscience inquired if Francis was thinking of postponing
settlement indefinitely.
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