“Do not be cross with me, my old friend,” he said. “It is the only pleasure I have left.”
“But at this moment,” the baron pointed out, “Your Majesty should be very careful. It would be most unfortunate if the impression got about that you are subject to such attacks.”
“I am not dead yet,” said the king; “though I confess that for a time I was uncertain about it. You have the papers?”
“They are here,” and the baron spread them out. “Everything is as we wished.”
“What are the exact figures?” asked the king.
“The estate, when all the debts had been settled and the taxes paid, amounted to seventy-five millions. Of this a third was left to the daughter, a third to the son, and a third to the wife, the wife’s share to be held in trust, after her death, for any grandchildren. The son’s share is also in trust; the daughter’s is to be paid over to her upon her marriage, but must remain her property, not her husband’s.”
“We cannot object to that,” said the king. “She will have, then, how much?”
“About twenty-five million dollars, Sire.”
“That is how much in the currency of our country?”
“At present rates, nearly three billions.”