de Chalusse would give me,
not a fortune, but a modest dowry. He had become more
communicative than usual on money matters, and took no pains to
conceal the fact that he was engaged in raising the largest
possible amount of ready cash. He received frequent visits from
his stockbroker, and sometimes when the latter had left him, he
showed me rolls of bank-notes and packages of bonds, saying, as he
did so: 'You see that your future is assured, my dear Marguerite.'
"I am only doing the count justice when I say that my future was a
subject of constant anxiety to him during the last few months of
his life. Less than a fortnight after he had taken me from the
asylum, he drew up a will, in which he adopted me and made me his
sole legatee. But he afterward destroyed this document on the
plea that it did not afford me sufficient security; and a dozen
others shared the same fate. For his mind was constantly occupied
with the subject, and he seemed to have a presentiment that his
death would be a sudden one. I am forced to admit that he seemed
less anxious to endow me with his fortune than to frustrate the
hopes of some persons I did not know. When he burned his last
will in my presence, he remarked: 'This document is useless: they
would contest it, and probably succeed in having it set aside. I
have thought of a better way; I have found an expedient which will
provide for all emergencies.' And as I ventured some timid
objection--for it was repugnant to my sense of honor to act as an
instrument of vengeance or injustice, or assist, even passively,
in despoiling any person of his rightful inheritance--he harshly,
almost brutally, replied: 'Mind your own business! I will
disappoint the folks who are waiting for my property as they
deserve to be disappointed.
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