Talleyrand Maxim by Joseph Smith Fletcher

John Mallathorpe, a wealthy Yorkshire industrialist and land owner dies in an accident, apparently without making a will. His estate goes to his wife and two children and they live the good life for a number of years. However, an old bookseller, whilst clearing some old books passed on from the Mallathorpe estate, finds a copy of Mallathorpe"s will inside one of the books, and unfortunately for the family the will bequeaths the whole estate minus a small endowment for the family, to the city