He had been at Versailles to stay a few days during the previous

spring, and Margaret had seen him several times in the interval, and

they had occasionally exchanged letters. She was quite well aware that

he was in love with her, and she liked him enough not to discourage

him. To marry him would be quite another question, though she did not

look upon it as impossible. Before all, she intended to wait until her

own position was clearly defined.

For the present she did not know whether she had inherited a large

fortune, or was practically a penniless orphan living on the charity of

her friend Mrs. Rushmore; and several months might pass before this

vital question was solved. Mrs. Rushmore believed that Margaret would

get the money, or a large part of it; Margaret did not, and in the

meantime she was doing her best to cultivate her voice in order to

support herself by singing.

Her father had been English, a distinguished student and critical

scholar, holding a professorship of which the income, together with

what he received from writing learned articles in the serious reviews,

had sufficed for himself, his wife and his only child. At his death he

had left little except his books, his highly honourable reputation and

a small life insurance.

He had married an American whose father had been rich at the time, but

had subsequently lost all he possessed by an unfortunate investment,

depending upon an invention, which had afterwards become enormously

valuable. Finding himself driven to extremities and on the verge of

failure, he had been glad to make over his whole interest to a distant

relative, who assumed his liabilities as well as his chances of

success. Utterly ruined, save in reputation, he had bravely accepted a

salaried post, had worked himself to death in eighteen months and had

died universally respected by his friends and as poor as Job.

His daughter, Mrs. Donne, had felt her position keenly. She was a

sensitive woman, she had married a poor man for love, expecting to make

him rich; and instead, she was now far poorer than he. He, on his part,

never bestowed a thought on the matter. He was simple and unselfish and

he loved her simply and unselfishly. She died of a fever at forty-two

and her death killed him. Two years later, Margaret Donne was alone in

the world.

Mrs. Rushmore had known Margaret's American grandmother and had been

Mrs. Donne's best friend. She had grave doubts as to the conditions on

which the whole interest in the invention had been ceded to old Alvah

Moon, the Californian millionaire, and, after consulting her own

lawyers in New York, she had insisted upon bringing suit against him,

in Margaret Donne's name, but at her own risk, for the recovery of an

equitable share of the fortune. A tenth part of it would have made the

girl rich, but there were great difficulties in the way of obtaining

evidence as to an implied agreement, and Alvah Moon was as hard as

bedrock.




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024