s and amaranths,--flowers which 'she'
loved so much,--and have them planted regularly round the grave of my
unforgettable wife. Furthermore I bequeath the interest of 10,000
florins to the gardeners of the Castle of Madaras, from father to son,
whose corresponding obligation it shall be to maintain a conservatory
near to the maple tree, beneath which is a white bench." Here the Squire
sighed, half to himself, "That was her favourite seat; there she used to
sit all through the afternoons. And the gardener is to plant another
maple tree beside it, that it may not stand so solitarily there. If at
any time the tree should wither, or if any careless descendant of mine
should ever cut it down, the whole amount reserved for this purpose
shall go to the poor."

Rudolf sat there with a cold, immovable face while all this was being
said; nobody guessed what he felt while these words were being spoken.

"'How foolish the old man must have grown in his latter years,' his
descendants will one day say, when they read these dispositions,
'leaving legacies to trees and shrubs!'"

"Furthermore," pursued Squire John, "I bequeath 50,000 florins to form a
fund for dowering girls of good behaviour on their marriage. On every
anniversary of the day on which my unforgettable wife fell asleep, all
the young maids on my estate shall meet together in the church to pray
to God for the souls of those that have died; then the three among these
virgins whom the priest shall judge to be the most meritorious shall be
presented with bridal wreaths in the presence of the congregation, and
the sum of money set apart for them; and then they shall proceed to the
tomb and deck it with flowers, and pray that God may make her who lies
there happier in the other world than she was in this. And that is my
desire."

Here he stopped, waiting till the lawyer had written down all his words,
during which time a mournful silence prevailed in the room, interrupted
only by the scratching and spluttering of the pen on the paper.

When the lawyer looked up from his parchment by way of signifying that
he had written everything down, the Squire sighed, and hung his head.

"When it pleases God to bring upon me the hour in which I shall quit
this transitory life, when I am dead, I desire to be buried in the dress
in which I was married to her; my faithful servant, old Paul, will know
which it is. The coffin, in which I am to be put, stands all ready in my
bedroom; ever