French and Oriental Love in a Harem
Page 7"Now let us have a talk.
"I leave you all my property, desiring to create no business
complications for you: my will is drawn up in proper form, and you will
enter into possession of your inheritance, which, you may rest assured,
is a pretty handsome one. There is, however, one last wish of mine for
the fulfilment of which I rely simply upon your affection, feeling sure
that between us there is no need of more complicated provisions for
ensuring its execution.
"I have a daughter, who has always shared with you my dearest
affections. If I have kept this second paternity a secret from you, I
have done so because circumstances might occur which would render
useless the revelation which I am now approaching. My daughter had a
legal father who had the right to reclaim her when sixteen years of age;
she is free now, her legal father is dead, she will soon be seventeen,
and I entrust her to your charge. Her name is Anna Campbell, she lives
at Paris at the Convent of Les Oiseaux, where she is completing her
Saulnier by name, who lives at No. 20, Rue Barbet de Jony. It will be a
sufficient introduction for you to call on this lady and tell her your
name. She is aware that I have appointed you moral guardian to my
daughter, and that it is you who will take my place. In short, she knows
all my intentions.
"I underline these words, for they sum up my fondest aspirations. I have
brought up Anna with the view of making her your wife, and thus dividing
my fortune between you; and I rely upon you to carry out this
arrangement. If marriage is for a man but a small matter, it is for a
woman the most serious event in life. With you, I am confident that the
dear girl will never be unhappy, and that is the thing of most
importance. If I never return from this last voyage, you will have
plenty of time to enjoy your bachelor's life; but I count upon your
friendship to render me this little service by marrying her when the
right time arrives. At present she is scarcely full-grown, and I think
mother had a fine figure. You will find their portraits in one of the
velvet frames in the drawer of my desk. (Don't make a mistake: it is the
one numbered 9.) "Now that this matter is settled, it only remains for me to give you one
last injunction. If Férandet has followed my instructions, as I suppose,
he will have burnt a paper in your presence. This was a second will, by
which my daughter Anna Campbell would have been appointed my universal
legatee, had you not been living. So long as all happened in the right
order, you surviving me, you will understand I should not have wished to
complicate your affairs, by leaving you confronted with a lot of legal
formalities and intricacies. Such would be the consequence of a female
minor who is a foreigner inheriting jointly with you: this would have
plunged you into a veritable mire of technicalities, restrictions,
registrations, and goodness knows what. Nevertheless, it is necessary to
provide fully for the possibility of an accident arising to you before
your marriage with Anna. Our property would go in that case to
these would not be forthcoming! As I wish my fortune to remain with my
children, it is indispensable that you should not forget to make
testamentary dispositions in favour of your cousin, so that the whole
property may go to her in the event of your death, without any more
dispute than there has been in your own case. I leave this matter in
your hands. You will find at my bankers all the indications of surnames,
Christian names, and descriptions which you will require to enumerate,
on the first page of my private ledger, where the account which was
opened for her commences, and yours also, forming a separate banking
account for you two. Madame Saulnier is accustomed to draw what is
required for her: therefore, until your marriage, it is unnecessary for
you to occupy yourself with this detail--all you have to do is to
confirm her credit.