The Estate

The estate is the land in England that Ambrose owns and then passes down to Philip upon his death. There are several tenants living on the estate as well as many servants, so the reader can assume that Philip’s family is quite wealthy. Philip grows up on the estate as Ambrose’s ward and is raised there without the intervention of any women after Ambrose sends the final female nanny away. Ambrose would normally have given the estate to his wife upon his death. He did draft a will in which the estate was to go to Rachel until she died, at which time it would return to Philip. However, Ambrose never signs the will because he is uneasy with Rachel’s spending habits. When Philip learns of the will, he decides to turn the estate over to Rachel when he turns 25 and it becomes his...