Part 4 (1/2)
At this strange avowal the young girl turned pale and recoiled a step.
”What?” she faltered; ”this gold was not yours, my father? To whom did it belong? From whence did it come?”
The unhappy man had gone too far to retract.
”I will tell you all, my daughter,” he replied, ”and you shall judge.
You shall decide. When the Sairmeuse family fled from France, I had only my hands to depend upon, and as it was almost impossible to obtain work, I wondered if starvation were not near at hand.
”Such was my condition when someone came after me one evening to tell me that Mademoiselle Armande de Sairmeuse, my G.o.dmother, was dying, and wished to speak with me. I ran to the chateau.
”The messenger had told the truth. Mademoiselle Armande was sick unto death. I felt this on seeing her upon her bed, whiter than wax.
”Ah! if I were to live a hundred years, never should I forget her face as it looked at that moment. It was expressive of a strength of will and an energy that would hold death at bay until the task upon which she had determined was performed.
”When I entered the room I saw a look of relief appear upon her countenance.
”'How long you were in coming!' she murmured faintly.
”I was about to make some excuse, when she motioned me to pause, and ordered the women who surrounded her to leave the room.
”As soon as we were alone:
”'You are an honest boy,', said she, 'and I am about to give you a proof of my confidence. People believe me to be poor, but they are mistaken.
While my relatives were gayly ruining themselves, I was saving the five hundred louis which the duke, my brother, gave me each year.'
”She motioned me to come nearer, and to kneel beside her bed.
”I obeyed, and Mademoiselle Armande leaned toward me, almost glued her lips to my ear, and added:
”'I possess eighty thousand francs.'
”I felt a sudden giddiness, but my G.o.dmother did not notice it.
”'This amount,' she continued, 'is not a quarter part of the former income from our family estates. But now, who knows but it will, one day, be the only resource of the Sairmeuse? I am going to place it in your charge, Lacheneur. I confide it to your honor and to your devotion. The estates belonging to the emigrants are to be sold, I hear. If such an act of injustice is committed, you will probably be able to purchase our property for seventy thousand francs. If the property is sold by the government, purchase it; if the lands belonging to the emigrants are not sold, take that amount to the duke, my brother, who is with the Count d'Artois. The surplus, that is to say, the ten thousand francs remaining, I give to you--they are yours.'
”She seemed to recover her strength. She raised herself in bed, and, holding the crucifix attached to her rosary to my lips, she said:
”'Swear by the image of our Saviour, that you will faithfully execute the last will of your dying G.o.dmother.'
”I took the required oath, and an expression of satisfaction overspread her features.
”'That is well,' she said; 'I shall die content. You will have a protector on high. But this is not all. In times like these in which we live, this gold will not be safe in your hands unless those about you are ignorant that you possess it. I have been endeavoring to discover some way by which you could remove it from my room, and from the chateau, without the knowledge of anyone; and I have found a way. The gold is here in this cupboard, at the head of my bed, in a stout oaken chest. You must find strength to move the chest--you must. You can fasten a sheet around it and let it down gently from the window into the garden. You will then leave the house as you entered it, and as soon as you are outside, you must take the chest and carry it to your home. The night is very dark, and no one will see you, if you are careful. But make haste; my strength is nearly gone.'
”The chest was heavy, but I was very strong.
”In less than ten minutes the task of removing the chest from the chateau was accomplished, without a single sound that would betray us.
As I closed the window, I said:
”'It is done, G.o.dmother.'