"Swear it, mademoiselle," said Monsieur Lamonti, glancing at the prayerbook which lay beside his pillow.
Mollie's lips trembled; the scene was becoming very trying to her.
"I will swear if monsieur wishes; but my word would be just as sacred to me as an oath," she said gently.
"That is enough--I am satisfied," he said, "and Mr. Ashley here already knows that I trust you implicitly, as I would my own daughter had she lived. Now, my child, let me add that you have been a great comfort to me; do not forget in the days to come that you made the last few months of a lonely, almost heart-broken man, much the brighter by your sweet presence, and the highest tribute I can show you is to trust you with my one earthly treasure--my Lucille. Now, I will not keep you, mademoiselle, adieu, and may the good God forever bless you and yours."
Mollie arose. She felt that she could scarcely have borne another word; her throat was almost convulsed, her eyes heavy with unshed tears, and yet she must not weep before him.
She could not speak, but she bent down and left a light caress upon the man's forehead, then swiftly but noiselessly passed from the room.
At the door she turned for one last look at her friend, to find his eyes fastened upon her, and in them a light of peace and gladness that she had never seen in them before. The memory of it never left her. That night Monsieur Lamonti passed away, and all Washington was grieved and shocked to read of it the following day.
A few days later another ripple of excitement was created among the elite of the nation's capital when the contents of Monsieur Lamonti's will were made known, and it was learned that a young and beautiful woman had been made the guardian of the distinguished gentleman's granddaughter and the executrix of the important testament. The document was simple and concise, but betrayed careful thought, and the fact that the testator knew exactly what he was about, for there was not a flaw in it that could possibly have been contested, had any one been disposed to do so.
It provided that all real estate, horses, carriages, plate, books, pictures, and choice bric-a-brac, together with certain stocks and bonds therein named, were to become the sole property of his beloved granddaughter, Lucille Gillette, to be held in trust for her, without bonds, until she arrived at the age of twenty-one or married, by Mademoiselle Marie Norton Heatherford, for whom the testator entertained the most profound esteem, and in whom he placed the utmost confidence, and who was hereby authorized and entreated to carry out his instructions to the letter, to wit: that she would legally adopt said Lucille Gillette as her own child, allowing her to retain her present name, and rear and educate her as tenderly and carefully as if she were indeed her own flesh and blood. Then there followed several minor bequests and requests, supplemented by something that was to make a radical change in Mollie's future.