Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1900-06-15

3 The Altered Will )
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Albert de Serrigny never felt his heart
throb one beat the faster for the opposite
: sex; not indeed that he was an enemy
to marriage, but he wanted to make Il
good bargain when he entered the seri-
GUS contract. And there was quite nat
ural reason for this desire on his part;
the brilliant lieutenant had for his sole
fortune his appearance.
He had lately, as last expedient,
; almost sold his beautiful young sister,
who had a most passionate attachment
for him, to an old, intrm husband of 80.
NJ. de Lagarde, however, was colossally
rich, aud all Albert's fine show was kept
up at his expense.
After having thrown sufficient dust in
the eyes of the world of ", at the
end of about two years the Lieutenant
de Serrigny thought it was time to
change from his cool Indifference toward
the feminine element. The daughter of
the general was his selection.
The general was widower, an old AZ
| rican campaigner, frank and brusque.
Serrigny began the siege in military
fashion.
General, love Mile. Jeanne. Will
you give your consent to my marriage
with her?' I.
"You love her very sincerely, trulyT'
with all my heart, general, 1 swear
to you.''
''Then give me your hand, lieutenant.
You can be my son-in-law as soon as you
like"
. "As to fortune, general continued De
Cerrigny, Il know how much money
adds to happiness, and l would never
have thought of Mile. Jeanne if had not
enough to keep her in state BETTING
! her rank"
Enough, lieutenant: you are a gentle
; man. l understand all that
Thanks to the complaisance Of an I'M
scrupulous notary and the connivance Of
his sister, Nine de Lagarde, Albert was
! able to arrange contract showing an in
come of $4,000, four of which he made
as a settlement on his young wife. Two
months after himself and his young wife
! were spending their honeymoon under the
| blue sky of Provence.
Albert apparently was wildly gay and
happy. Nevertheless he was not without
subjects of preoccupation. The future
was shadowel by clouds, debts pressing
! everywhere around, and for the present
no possible means of paying them. For
Nine. de Lagarde, to satisfy the exigen-
cies Of the marriage of her brother, had
exhausted all her resources. even every
possible pretense Of obtaining money
from her husband.
! The lieutenant's last demand for money
had been without the least result, and on
receipt of his sisters excuses he had re-
| piled by letter full of vindictiveness and
bitterness, containing, among other
things, the following suggestion:
You would not even put an end to the old
e=onkey faced mtser. Then might do as We
; fixed with his money.
Then one night at Nice on his return
from the theater Serrigny found tele-
gram which had been forwarded from
Cannes:
Husband died suddenly at O'Clock. Come at
once HESR1ETTE.
4. 1t was an unexpected piece OF news
but not too hard to be borne.
Albert, without change of expression,~
passed the telegram to his wife and, as
she seemed very much surprised and sad
dened, said, with sigh, as full Of relief
as of regret:
j. "What can we do. my darling? 1t is
very hard on Henriette, to be sure, but
when couple are so very badly assorted
such premature separations must be ex-
pected''
The next day while travelling husband
and wife thought vaguely now and again
| that they were going to see some one in
! tered, but that was all. q
| Albert was irreproachable in the mai
ner with which he performed the last du-
ties for his brother-in-law. Then, the
| distressing functions over, he went back
! to " will, his sister. presumably to
distract her from the contemplation of
| her sorrow, in reality to wait feverishly,
nervously, for the opening Of the will.
i For there was a will. NJ. Onesime
| Gaudarey, notary, had announced it on
the day of the funeral. adding that after
the usual conventional delay he would
make known it's contents to those inter-
ested.
! The important day came at last Ser
rigny, becoming more and more anxious,
got permission to remain away from pa
rade in order to have the news at the
! earliest possible moment
! At O'Clock Nine. de Lagarde was
| with her brother, telling in few words
| the terrible details of the will.
NJ. Lagarde left to his widow an in
come of 5000 francs, which could neither
be transferred nor negotiated. The re-
/ nainder of his immense fortune was left
to distant relatives and public charities.
! And, detail most overwhelming Of all,
| attached to the will was certain letter
of Albert de Serrigny's which ended in
| these words:
| You would not put an end to the old
! monkey faced miser; then might do as We
| liked with his money.
Across the letter in red ink was writ
ten:
This is the only reason for my present will
Were it. not for this letter my wife would have
had all possess
It was the husband who had received
the letter, and he took good care never to
show it to Nine. de Lagarde.
The Viscomte de Serrigny was obliged
to quit the army, and while his wife isl