r, and
passed to her seat at the table.

The duke and the dowager seated themselves on either side of her.

"Are you quite ready, Miss Levison, to hear the will of the late Sir
Lemuel Levison?" inquired the attorney.

"I am quite ready, Mr. Kage, thanks," replied the young lady, in a low
voice, and speaking with an effort.

The attorney unlocked the box, took out the will, unfolded and proceeded
to read it.

The document was dated several years back. It was neither long nor
complex. After liberal bequests to each one of his household servants,
rich keepsakes to his dear friends, an annuity to the dowager Lady
Belgrade, and a princely endowment to found an orphan asylum and
children's hospital in the heart of London, he bequeathed the residue of
his vast estates, both real and personal, without reserve and without
conditions, to his only and beloved child, Salome.

After the reading of the will was finished, the attorney arose, came
around to where the ladies sat, and congratulated Miss Levison and Lady
Belgrade, on their rich inheritance.

"How could he do it?" thought the unconventional and weeping heiress.
"Oh, how could he congratulate me on an inheritance which came, and could
only have come, through my dear father's decease!" Then in a voice broken
with emotion, she said:

"Thanks, Mr. Kage. Will you please now to read my dear papa's
letter?--since you _are_ to read it aloud, I think," she added.

"Such was the deceased Sir Lemuel's direction, my dear Miss Levison,"
said the lawyer. And returning to his place at the head of the table, he
took the letter from the japanned box, opened it, and said:

"This letter from my late honored client to his daughter was committed by
the late Sir Lemuel Levison to my charge to be retained and read after
the will, in the event of a circumstance which has already occurred--I
mean the sudden and unexpected death of the writer. The letter will
explain itself."

Here the lawyer cleared his throat, and began to read:

"ELMHURST HOUSE, Kensington, London,

"Monday, May 1st, 18--.

"MY DEAREST ONLY CHILD: Blessings on your head! Nothing could
have made me happier, than has your betrothal to so admirable a young man
as the Marquis of Arondelle. Had I possessed the privilege of choosing
a husband for you, and a son-in-law for myself, from the whole race of
mankind, I should have chosen him above all others. But, my dearest
Salome, the satisfaction I enjoy in your prospec