These last words reminded Louis of a fact which, in his grief, he had entirely forgotten. His father was rich, and thinking that there might be some money concealed somewhere in the room, but not wishing to inst.i.tute a search for it in the porter"s presence, he said:
"I may need the cab again this morning, so tell the man to wait. If I am not down in half an hour, you can come back again, and I will give you the money."
The porter went out, and the young man, thus left alone, experienced a feeling almost akin to remorse, as he thought of the search he was about to make,--a search which at such a moment seemed almost sacrilege, but necessity left him no choice.
The furniture of the room consisted of a writing-desk, a bureau, and a big chest similar to those seen in the houses of well-to-do peasants, and which was divided into two compartments, one above the other.
Louis examined the desk and bureau, but found no money in either of them. The keys of the chest were in their respective locks. He opened both compartments, but saw only a few articles of clothing. A long drawer separated the two compartments. In this drawer there was nothing except a few unimportant papers; but the idea that there might be some secret compartment occurred to Louis, so he took the drawer out of the chest, and proceeded to examine it. A careful search resulted in the discovery of a small bra.s.s k.n.o.b in the left side of the drawer. He pressed this k.n.o.b, and immediately saw the board which apparently formed the bottom of the drawer move slowly out, disclosing to view another opening below, about four inches deep, and extending the entire length of the drawer. This s.p.a.ce was part.i.tioned off into a number of small compartments, and each of these compartments was filled with piles of gold pieces of different denominations and nationalities. It was evident that each coin must have been carefully polished, for they all sparkled as brilliantly as if they had just come out of the mint.
Louis, in spite of his profound grief, stood a moment as if dazzled at the sight of this treasure, the value of which he knew must be very considerable. On recovering from his surprise a little, he noticed a paper in the first compartment, and, recognising his father"s handwriting, he read these words:
"This collection of gold pieces was begun on the 7th of September, 1803.
Its market value is 287,634 francs, 10 centimes. See Clause IV. of my will, entrusted to the keeping of Master Marainville, No. 28 Rue St.
Anne, with whom is likewise deposited all my t.i.tle-deeds, mortgages, stocks, and bonds. See also the sealed envelope under the piles of Spanish double pistoles, in fifth compartment."
Louis removed several piles of the large, heavy coins designated, and found an envelope sealed with black.
Upon this envelope was written in bold characters:
"_To My Dearly-beloved Son._"
Just as Louis picked up the envelope some one knocked at the door, and remembering that he had told the porter to return, he had barely time to take out one of the coins and close the chest before that functionary entered.
The porter examined the coin which the young man handed to him with quite as much surprise as curiosity, exclaiming, with a wondering air:
"What a handsome gold piece! One would suppose it had just been coined.
I never saw one like it before."
"Go and pay the cabman with it!"
"But how much is a big gold piece like this worth, monsieur?"
"More than I owe. Go and get it changed, and pay the coachman."
"Did your father leave many of these big gold pieces, M. Richard?"
asked the porter, in a mysterious tone. "Who would have supposed that old man--"
"Go!" thundered Louis, exasperated at the heartlessness of the question, "go and pay the coachman, and don"t come back."
The porter beat a hasty retreat, and Louis, to guard against further intrusion, locked the door and returned to the chest.
Before opening his father"s letter the young man, almost in spite of himself, gazed for a moment at the glittering treasure, but this time, though he reproached himself for the thought at such a moment, he remembered Mariette, and said to himself that one-fourth of the wealth that was lying there before him would a.s.sure his wife"s comfort and independence for life.
Then he tried to forget the cruel stratagem his father had resorted to, and even comforted himself with the thought that he should have secured the old man"s consent to his marriage with Mariette eventually, and that, though he might not have confessed to the wealth he possessed, he would at least have provided comfortably for the young couple.
The discovery of this treasure excited in Louis"s breast none of that avaricious or revengeful joy that the heirs of misers often feel when they think of the cruel privations a parent"s avarice has imposed upon them.
On the contrary, it was with devout respect that the young man broke the seal of the letter which doubtless contained his aged father"s last wishes.
CHAPTER XII.
A VOICE FROM THE GRAVE.
This communication, dated about two months before, read as follows:
"MY BELOVED SON:--When you read these lines I shall have ceased to live.
"You have always believed me to be poor; on the contrary, I leave you a large fortune acc.u.mulated by avarice.
"I have been a miser. I do not deny it. On the contrary, I glory in the fact.
"And these are my reasons:
"Up to the time of your birth,--which deprived me of your mother,--I had, without being extravagant, been indifferent about increasing either my own patrimony or the dowry my wife had brought me; but as soon as I had a son, that desire to make ample provision for him which is the sacred duty of every parent gradually aroused a spirit of economy, then of parsimony, and finally of avarice, in my breast.
"Besides, the privations I imposed upon myself did not affect you in your infancy. Born st.u.r.dy and robust, the wholesome simplicity of your bringing up was rather beneficial than otherwise, tending as it did to the development of an excellent const.i.tution.
"When you were old enough to begin your education, I sent you to one of the best schools open to the poor, at first, I must admit, purely from motives of economy, but afterward, because I considered such a training the best preparation for an honest, industrious life. The success of this plan even exceeded my expectations. Reared with the children of the poor, you acquired none of those luxurious, extravagant tastes, and felt none of the bitter envy and jealousy, that so often exert a fatal influence upon a young man"s future. You were thus spared much of the chagrin which is no less bitter because the victim of it is a child.
"It is generally supposed that because children of entirely different conditions in life wear the same uniform, eat at the same table, and pursue the same studies, a feeling of equality exists between them.
"This is a great mistake.
"Social inequality is as keenly felt among children as in the social world.
"The son of a wealthy tradesman or a great n.o.bleman generally displays the same pride and arrogance at ten years of age as at twenty-five.
"As for you, reared with children of the people, you heard them all talk of the hard toil of their parents, and the necessity of labour was thus impressed upon your mind almost from infancy.
"Other schoolmates told of the privations and poverty which the members of their households were obliged to endure, and in this way you became accustomed to our poverty.
"At the age of fifteen, I made you compete for a scholarship in the admirable inst.i.tution in which you completed your studies, and your early education already began to bear excellent fruits, for, though many of your schoolmates were wealthy or of n.o.ble lineage, contact with them never impaired your sterling qualities, or made you envious or discontented.
"At the age of seventeen you entered the office of a notary, an intimate friend of mine, who alone knows the secret of my great wealth, and who has charge of my investments. Up to this time, this friend"s discretion has equalled his devotion, and, thanks to him, you have acquired a fair knowledge of law, and also of business methods, which will be of immense service to you in the management of the very handsome property I have ama.s.sed.
"My conscience does not reproach me in the least, consequently, though sometimes I admit I fear you may address this reproach to my memory:
""While you were ama.s.sing all this wealth, father, how could you bear to see me subjected to such cruel privations?"
"But the recollection of the many times you have remarked to me that, though we were poor, you were perfectly contented, and that you craved wealth only for my sake, always drove this fear from my heart.
"In fact, your invariable good humour, the evenness of your disposition, your natural gaiety, and your devoted affection for me have always convinced me that you were contented with your lot; besides, I shared it. What I earned as a scrivener, together with your earnings, have enabled us to live without touching any of the income from my property, which has consequently been acc.u.mulating in prudent hands for the last twenty years, so at this present writing the fortune I leave to you amounts to over two millions and a half.