With
the exception of our excellent old neighbor and the two Mr. Bainrothes,
the circle assembled for the solemn occasion was composed entirely of
Mr. Monfort's household and was truly a funereal one. I wore my
deep-mourning dress for the first time that day, and Mabel, similarly
attired, sat beside me. Claude Bainrothe was alone on a distant sofa.
Evelyn assumed my father's chair, and wore, with the weeds customary to
widows, a demeanor of great dignity and reserve suitable to the head of
the family. Mr. Gerald Stanbury had a seat near mine, on which he sat
uneasily, and Mrs. Austin, Franklin, and Morton, were ranged together
stiffly in chairs placed against the wall, likewise attired in deep
mourning. Mr. Bainrothe was seated near the study-table, looking
unusually pale and subdued, from one of the drawers of which he had
drawn forth the will, unlocking and locking it again with a key
suspended to his guard-chain.
"This key was placed in my hand," he said, "during my friend's last
illness, and, although he could not speak to me at the time, his
expressive eye indicated its importance and to what drawer it belonged.
This was before he was removed from the study in which he was stricken,
dear friends, as you may all remember, on Christmas-morning, and which
he never again reentered. From that day to this the key which I wear has
not left my charge, nor been placed in the lock to which it belongs, and
to the guardianship of which this will, as soon as made and legally
attested, was probably committed.
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