The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-05

made such will? why had she left
her entire estate to relatives whom.
one would suppose. hated her?
why? suddenly all the details or
this WILL every word of which ne re-
membered distinctly, though he I'D
merely glanced at it, came before him
In new light.
The Duchess funeral. which the
Prince was to attend in person. --er
burial in the family vault at Pere
Lachaise, the mention o. her name in
the Memoirs of the Marshal, these
three acts were surely significant, for
by them her relationship to the family
would be formally announced, --er
marriage with the Duke Ivrea would
be recognized and an end would be put
forever to the ostracism, whicA lad
doubtless lasted for years and had
greatly exasperated her vanity. .ie
Duchess had offered to make bar
gain with the Prince. ana
Alfred, who easily recalled the curioes
expression on the face of the latter as
he studied the paper containing the
terms of the contract could not help
being impressed by the fact that on
his rugged countenance three things
were distinctly represented-amaze-
ment. anger and hesitation.
Yes. he had hesitated, and he still
steps in the direction of the Place de
Palais Bourbon, stopped a second time.
with the intention of returning to the
Princes apartment. and for several
minutes his eyes were turned toward
the windows of the second story, be-
hind which was then being played
novel drama. with all the details of
which he would soon become thor
oughly acquainted. AS yet he only
knew certain facts. and their signifi-
canoe was not sufficiently apparent to
enable him to form a decided opinion
in regard to them. After ALL" he said
to himself, ut is none of my business
and the Prince will soon find out which
is the stronger, his antipathy fcS his
sister-in Flaw or his desire to become
rich. At any rate this AGAR has ena-
bled me to visit Paris and 1 intend to
profit thereby"
During the two years which he had
spent as an exile in Auvergne, denying
himself any recreation or holiday I'M
til his work was finished, as he did
not wish to spend money, he had not
kept up correspondence with any of
the young men who had been his col
leagues at college. AS he had no rela-
tives whom he could visit he now
thought of these friends. presumably
because his employer had suggested
that he should call on some of them.
Suddenly a name and personality
came wildly before him, and it hap
pened that he was then in the very
Structure de PUniversite-where this
most charming friend, Raymond de
Contay lived. a young man he was, OF
good family. being a grandson of the
famous Duchess de Contay, so well
known for her inexhaustible charity
A IA -
college s Alfred had attended. and
because he had no desire to lead an
idle life, he had continued his studies
his intention being to devote as much
time as possible to history and ancient
documents.
If Alfred had examined himself thor
oughly he would have discovered that
his friendship for this kindly and
clever youth was not the real reason
why he now felt irresistibly impelled
to call on him at once and at the I'M
usual hour of noon. IF 1 can only find
him at home" he thought, and it was
not for friendships sake alone that he
was so anxious to meet him. The
real reason was because Raymond
moved in the very best society To
Alfred. who knew nothing of the lines
drawn between the various ranks of
society. this meant that his colleague
certainly knew the Duchess diva, or
at any rate had heard about her from
persons who knew her If any one
could give a true account of her ca
reer, it was he, and Alfred Boyer knew
that he would not be contented until
he had learned all that lie could about
her. He was strongly enthusiastic on
this point. as though. instead of being
an ordinary posthumous secretary of
the ia hoI he
hero ran in his veins and as though he