I wish you good-
evening."
He bowed; he was really going, for his hand was already on the
door-knob. But Madame d'Argeles detained him with a gesture.
"One word more," she said, in a voice hoarse with emotion.
He scarcely deigned to come back, and he made no attempt to
conceal his impatience. "Well, what is it?" he asked, hastily.
"I wish to give you a bit of parting advice. The court will
undoubtedly decide in your favor; I shall be placed in possession
of my brother's estate; but neither you nor I will have the
disposal of these millions."
"Why?"
"Because, though this fortune belongs to me, the control of it
belongs to your father."
M. Wilkie was thunderstruck. "To my father?" he exclaimed.
"Impossible!"
"It is so, however; and you would not have been ignorant of the
fact, if your greed for money had not made you forget to question
me. You believe yourself an illegitimate child. Wilkie, you are
mistaken. You are my legitimate child. I am a married woman----"
"Bah!"
"And my husband--your father--is not dead. If he is not here now,
threatening our safety, it is because I have succeeded in eluding
him. He lost all trace of us eighteen years ago. Since then he
has been constantly striving to discover us, but in vain. He is
still watching, you may be sure of that; and as soon as there is
any talk of a law-suit respecting the Chalusse property, you will
see him appear, armed with his rights.
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