The absence of this precaution puzzled Mr.Brimsdown considerably at first, but as he pondered over the matter he began to see the reason.

Robert Turold was so close to the summit of his ambition that he had not thought it necessary to take precautions.

He was a strong man, and strong men rarely think of death.

Once the title was his, it descended as a matter of course to his brother, and then to his brother's son--provided, of course, that the proofs of his daughter's illegitimacy were in existence.
That conclusion carried another in its wake.

If Robert Turold had not safeguarded his dearest ambition because he hoped to carry it out himself, it followed as a matter of course that he did not take his own life.