The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1903-04-16
THE CHANGED WILL


his beautiful young sister, who had a
most passionate attachment for him, to
an old, infirm husband of sixty. NJ. de
Lagarde, however, was colossally rich
and all Albert's fine show was kept up
at his expense.
After having thrown sufficient dust
in the eyes of the world of v, at the
end Of about two years Lieutenant de
from his cool Indifference toward the
feminine element. The daughter of the
general was his selection.
The general was a widower, an old
African campaigner frank and brusque
Serrigny began the siege in military
fashion.
General, 1 love Mile. Jeanne. Will
you give your consent to my marriage
with her?'
"Give me your hand, lieutenant. You
can be my son-in-law."
"As to fortune, general" continued
De Serrigny, Il know how much mon
L
er have thought of Mile. Jeanne if l
had not enough to keep her in a state
betting her rank"
Enough, lieutenant. You are a gen
tleman. | understand all that"
Thanks to the cOmDlaiSance of an I'M
scrupulous notary and the connivance
of his sister, Nine. de Lagarde, Albert
cho
al Income Of $4,000, $4,000 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 Pro-
vence
Albert apparently was wildly gay and
happy. Nevertheless he was not with
out subjects Of preOccupation. The fu~
ture was Swallowed by clouds, debts
pressing everywhere around, and for
the present 10 possible means Of pay
ing them. For Nine. de Lagarde, to sat
isfy the eXigencies Of the marriage Of
her brother, had exhausted all her re-
sources. even every possible pretense
of obtaining money from her husband.
L lie lleulcudul 1uSI lOl
money had been without the least re-
suit, and on receipt of his sisters eX-
cuses he had replied by a letter full of
vindictiveneSs and bitterness, contain
ing, among other things, the following
suggestion:
You would not even put an end to the
old monkey faced miSer. Then we might
do liked with his
Then one night at Nice on his return
from the theater Serrigny found a tele-
gram which had been forwarded from
Cannes:
Husband died suddenly at 2 o'clock.
Come at once. HENRIETTE. /
1t was an unexpected piece of news,
but not too hard to be borne.
Albert, without change of express
sion, passed the telegram to his wife
and as she seemed very much sur
prised and saddened said with sigh
as full of relief as of regret:
"What can we do, my darling? 1t is
very hard on Henriette, to be sure, but
when a couple are so very badly as
sorted such premature separations
must be expected"
The next day while travelling hus-
band and wife thought vaguely now.
and again that they were going to see
some one inferred, but that was all.
Albert was irreproachable in the
manner with which he performed the
last duties for his brother-in-law. Then,
the distressing functions over, he went
back to V. with his sister, presum-
ably to distract her from the contem-
platiOn of her sorrow in reality to wait
feverishly, nervously for the opening
of the will.
For there was a will. M. Onesime
Gaudarey, notary, had announced it on
the day of the funeral, adding that
after the usual conventional delay he
would make known its contents to
those interested. ~sa&
The important day came at last. Ser
rigny, becoming more and more anx-
ious, got permission to remain away
from parade in order to have the news
at the earliest possible moment.
At o'clock Nine. de Lagarde was
with her brother, telling in a few
words the terrible details of the will.
NJ. Lagarde left to his widow an in
come of 5000 francs, which could nei-
Their be transferred nor negotiated. The
remainder of his immense fortune was
left to distant relatives and public
charities.
And, detail most overwhelming of
all, attached to the will was a certain
letter of Albert de Serrigny's which
ended in these words:
You would not even put an end to the
old monkey faced miser. Then we 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.
1t was the husband who had re-
ceived the letter, and he took good care
never to show it to Nine. de Lagarde.
The Vicomte de Serrigny was
obliged to quit the army, and while
his wife is seeking a divorce from him
it is still his sister who, touched with
pity, gives him a home and secures
him from want.