"Nothing," was the gloomy reply that fell on my ear--on my heart like
molten lead; "nothing but what you know of. This house, this furniture,
well preserved it is true, but old and out of style. Your carriage and
horses--diamonds--in short, what you have in hand. That is all you have
left of the great estate of your mother."
"It is enough to keep the wolf from the door, at all events," I remarked
quietly, "and I am thankful for a bare competence; but why, under
existing circumstances, were you in such haste to remove the contents of
the iron chest behind the mirror, a portion of which you added to in
September?"
He rose with dignity and advanced to the corner of the mantel-shelf, on
which he leaned in a perfectly self-possessed position, one foot crossed
lightly over the other, I remember, and one hand at his side--a favorite
attitude of his. He interrupted my interrogatory with another, ever an
effectual aid in browbeating.
"How did you become possessed of the knowledge that I kept gold there?"
he asked, coolly; "I had meant to have preserved the secret of that
spring until your majority, but you women penetrate every thing. No, my
dear Miriam," he continued, without waiting for an answer,
"unfortunately, the gold you refer to was exchanged for worthless
bank-stocks in September last, according to the requisitions of your
father's will; and, as that was the latest paid in of the loans he had
made, and as all other means had been invested in like manner (and with
a promptness characteristic of me, I believe I may say without vanity),
as they fell into my hands.
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