The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-05-28

| > 'ti' paw t'ii't y, WINS, teiNt oiiC
see why every bachelor and many :
man who could not marry looked long
ingly into her beautiful face.
But one could tell by the manner O.
her walking, the infections of her voice
and the immobility of her attitude
when she sat that for her there was
neither light nor sweetness, nor hope,
nor desire, left in life.
And yet she went about as usual
even after her sons death, steadily re-
fusing the shroud of Grape and having
always in the house light, flowers, pc
fume and pleasant company
The stepchildren looked curiously at
each other as year after year slid away
and said to each other that she would
never die.
Many of them died of dropsy and
other watery disordercd, and their
children grew up. but at 80 Mistress
Chevalier was still alive--and ut 50
although, truth to tell, she had shrivel
ed into brown mummy and sat all
day and oft-times all night in great
wadded chair with hood over it, stuff.
ed about with cushions and proppen
with pillows and hot water bottles.
Her body had mummified, but her
mind was as clear and as crystal as ice
She would look with her deep black
eyes at the faithful mullatto slave wo-
man who waitod upon her and laugh
to herself-a strangely clear laugh to
issue from such shrunken lips.
Sometimes her step-grandchildren
would 90 to see her When they were
children, they were afraid, but as the
years passed they got quite used to the
sight OF the great coffin in one end of
the room.
at is a very comfortable bed" Mis-
tress Chevalier would often say. And
several times, when she thought the
hour had surely come, she made the
slave woman and her daughters put it
on its trestles and lift her in, and she
would lie, waiting for death, gazing
with a corpse-hke smile at the general 5
portrait.
At these times the family, in all its
branches, rejoiced. There were only
few of the direct lines left. Nearly
all had married Some were rich, and
some were poor, and all were avar-
cious.
At last. one morning the faithful mu-
lattrcss found the mistress dead in hel
coffin
Once again the children of the house
assembled i'll the drawing rooms to
hear the reading of a will-the women
as usual, a hypocritical row of veiled
plenreuses. All were present except
the son Of Robert He had inherited
his fathers hatred, and Mistress Chev.
alters death revived the story of her
sons. SO the step-grandson staid
away from her burial.
His portion of the estate should be
the place itself. But the will ran
"To my faithful and devoted attendant
Cilla, or Lucilla, Chevalier leave the
place and certain sums of money at in.
terest, herein more fully described and
specified
This Lucilla Chevalier was none
other than the mulatto slave )man
whose papers offrcedom, together with
those of her daughters and sons, had
been declared before the will was
opened.
Therefore was she legal heir. A
gasp of horror ran round the room.
The Chevaller place.
But that was not all. If the surviv-
ing relatives of the testatOr should
attempt to set aside the condi-
tlons of the will IN any way, on any
grounds, the entire property, real and
personal, should 90 to the dead wo-
mans physician. Between this man
and the Chevaicrs there had always
been feud and ill favor.
Niobe's son received Il life interest of
many thousand dollars, and there were
few lcgacies here and there among
tue poorest uelph-Chevalier tribe.
The mistress gold and silver plate
diamonds and other jewels were locked
up in bank i'll a city, to be disposed
of, in accordance with sealed instruc.
tions locked up with them, a yeal
after the reading of the will.
When Rober,', son was told these
things, he turned white and then green
"A livid, unpleasant shade.
The Chevalier place, his patrimony
left to slaves! And no one knew tC
whom the gold, the silver and the dia
monds were left. The sealed instruc
tions with them would undoubtedly
reveal further determination on the
part of the dead woman to insult and
rob the family.
Mistress Chevaicr's coffin had been
placed in the family vault, between
those of her husband and their little
son. BY her desire the collins were
on one shelf, touching each other, and
covered with Il velvet pail, on which
she herself had laboriously embroidered
the Chevalier coat of arms, with it's
significant crest and motto.
The vault was in the churcbyard OI