Since that time I never saw any woman at the château, except once in an
isolated part of the park, where I met two shadowy beings, closely and
mysteriously veiled. They were taking a walk, accompanied by an old
fellow of singular aspect, clothed in a long robe with a tarbouch on
his head, who greatly excited my curiosity. My uncle told me that this
was His Excellency, Mohammed-Azis, one of his friends at Constantinople,
whom he had taken in with his family after they had undergone
persecution at the hands of the Sultan. He lodged him in another little
château adjoining Férouzat, in order that they might be able to live
more comfortably in Turkish style: those young persons were two of his
daughters.
After that year, I never again stayed in Provence: for my uncle, having
settled in China and Japan, was absent five years, and my only relations
with him were through his banker at Paris, with whom I enjoyed that
solid and unlimited credit which you envied so much, and of which I
availed myself with such easy grace and in such a superbly reckless
spirit.
You remember that I received a few months ago a letter announcing this
sudden misfortune, and requesting my immediate presence at Férouzat, to
remove the seals and open the will: my poor uncle had died in Abyssinia.
Well, the day after my arrival, I had only just got up, when Féraudet,
the notary, was announced. He came in, literally armed with documents. I
did not want to act like a greedy heir, but rather to put off for a few
days all the most material questions; my notary, however, informed me
that "there were certain clauses in the will which demanded an immediate
examination." My uncle had charged me, he said, with numerous trusts and
legacies "for the benefit of his god-children and of other parties
living a long distance off." All this was uttered in a mournful tone
suited to the occasion, and at the same time with the manner of a person
aware that he was the bearer of an extraordinary document, and preparing
me for its effect. Finally he opened the will, which was worded as
follows: "Château de Férouzat, ... 18..
"I, the undersigned, Claude-Anatole-Gratien Barbassou, Count of
Monteclaro, do hereby declare that I elect and designate as my universal
legatee and the sole inheritor of my property: of all my real and
personal estate, and all that I am entitled to of every description
soever, such as ..., &c.: my nephew Jérôme André de Peyrade, the son of
my sister: And I hereby command him to discharge the following legacies: