You good creature! You excellent
Lecount! Send the drunken brute away, and come back directly. We will
be comfortable by the fire, Lecount--and have a nice little dinner--and
try to make it like old times." His weak voice faltered; he returned to
the fire side, and melted into tears again under the pathetic influence
of his own idea.
Mrs. Lecount left him for a minute to dismiss the coachman. When she
returned to the parlor she found him with his hand on the bell.
"What do you want, sir?" she asked.
"I want to tell the servants to get your room ready," he answered. "I
wish to show you every attention, Lecount."
"You are all kindness, Mr. Noel; but wait one moment. It may be well to
have these papers put out of the way before the servant comes in
again. If you will place the Will and the Sealed Letter together in one
envelope--and if you will direct it to the admiral--I will take care
that the inclosure so addressed is safely placed in his own hands. Will
you come to the table, Mr. Noel, only for one minute more?"
No! He was obstinate; he refused to move from the fire; he was sick and
tired of writing: he wished he had never been born, and he loathed the
sight of pen and ink.
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