george stayed with the laird a good while, and held a long, broken talk with him. when he went alexa came. she thought her father seemed happier. george had put the cup away for him. alexa sat with him that night. she knew nothing of such a precious thing being in the house—in the room with them.
in the middle of the night, as she was arranging his pillows, the laird drew from under the bed-clothes, and held up to her, flashing in the light of the one candle, the jeweled watch. she stared. the old man was pleased at her surprise and evident admiration. she held out her hand for it. he gave it her.
“that watch,” he said, “is believed to have belonged to ninon de l'enclos. it may, but i doubt it myself. it is well known she never took presents from her admirers, and she was too poor to have bought such a thing. mme. de maintenon, however, or some one of her lady-friends, might have given it her. it will be yours one day—that is, if you marry the man i should like you to marry.”
“dear father, do not talk of marrying. i have enough with you,” cried alexa, and felt as if she hated george.
“unfortunately, you can not have me always,” returned her father. “i will say nothing more now, but i desire you to consider what i have said.”
alexa put the watch in his hand.
“i trust you do not suppose,” she said, “that a house full of things like that would make any difference.”
he looked up at her sharply. a house full—what did she know? it silenced him, and he lay thinking. surely the delight of lovely things must be in every woman's heart. was not the passion, developed or undeveloped, universal? could a child of his not care for such things?
“ah,” he said to himself, “she takes after her mother.”
a wall seemed to rise between him and his daughter. alas! alas! the things he loved and must one day yield would not be cherished by her. no tender regard would hover around them when he was gone. she would be no protecting divinity to them. god in heaven! she might—she would—he was sure she would sell them.
it seems the sole possible comfort of avarice, as it passes empty and hungry into the empty regions—that the things it can no more see with eyes or handle with hands will yet be together somewhere. hence the rich leave to the rich, avoiding the man who most needs, or would best use their money. is there a lurking notion in the man of much goods, i wonder, that, in the still watches of the night, when men sleep, he will return to look on what he leaves behind him? does he forget the torture of seeing it at the command, in the enjoyment of another—his will concerning this thing or that but a mockery? does he know that he who then holds them will not be able to conceive of their having been or ever being another's as now they are his?
as alexa sat in the dim light by her brooding father she loathed the shining thing he had again drawn under the bed-clothes—shrunk from it as from a manacle the devil had tried to slip on her wrist. the judicial assumption of society suddenly appeared in the emptiness of its arrogance. marriage for the sake of things. was she not a live soul, made for better than that she was ashamed of the innocent pleasure the glittering toy had given her.
the laird cast now and then a glance at her face, and sighed. he gathered from it the conviction that she would be a cruel step-mother to his children, her mercy that of a loveless non-collector. it should not be. he would do better for them than that. he loved his daughter, but needed not therefore sacrifice his last hopes where the sacrifice would meet with no acceptance. house and land should be hers, but not his jewels; not the contents of his closet.
