Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/326

 "Yes."

"A week ago I knew that the end was not far off. I telegraphed to her relatives in Austria, two women who do not inherit the estates, but will doubtless benefit financially, for she was not poor, as I told you. They arrived two days ago, and I, being of no further use, was dismissed. I had devoted my whole life to the Baroness, which was only my duty, for her father and mother, and she herself have been both kind and generous to me. The Transylvania estate was not inherited by her father, but purchased by him, because of its mineral properties. She had never seen it, and cared nothing for the prospects that had interested her father. I assisted Baron von Arrenfels in this and other things, tabulating the reports of the engineers, and arranging all the papers concerning it. I spoke about its potential wealth so often that one day the Baroness said she would leave it to me, that being the only property she could bequeath. I know she intended to do this, and perhaps she has done so. I truly hope she has, but fear not, because as she grew weaker and weaker, her memory seemed to fail. I therefore in a measure, you see, regarded this as my own. Unluckily, I told Lieutenant Grunwald, and he persuaded me to treat it as my