“Elfie,” he said, “if I die, my widow will be one of the wealthiest women in Virginia.”
“Dear Albert, you are a great deal better. You are not going to die. And if you were, I know very well that wealth would never console your widow for your loss. But you will live, Albert. You will get over this and live!”
“If I do live, Elfie, I will atone to you for all I have made you suffer. If I die, I have the comfort of knowing that you will be very rich in this world’s goods.”
“Pray—pray don’t talk so, dear.”
“I must, Elfie! I must explain, while I can, my worldly position, that you may understand it and know how to proceed in the event of my death. Elfie, my uncle and aunt Goldsborough, and their unhappy daughter, being all dead, and there being no other heirs, all the vast estates appertaining to the elder branch of the Goldsborough family fall to me, as heir-at-law. The mansion in Richmond, the villa on the sea-side, and the plantation in the valley are all mine. The plantation house is in ruins, I believe; but the land is there, of course. And the rest of the property everywhere is intact; and, united to my own hereditary acres, makes a vast estate.”
“As if I cared for that! Oh, Albert, I only care to see you get well,” she murmured.
“And I will get well, to please you, if I can, Elfie. And as I said before, if I live, I will devote my life to your happiness. If I die, I will leave you the wealthiest widow in Virginia. For, Elfie, listen, my dear—whichever party conquers, you will be all right. If the Confederacy triumphs, as the widow of a Confederate officer, you will succeed to the half of my estate. If the Union triumphs, as the daughter of a Union officer, and as an unquestionably loyal woman, you will still be allowed your widow’s rights to the one-half of my estates, although the other half may be confiscated by the conquerors.”
“Albert! Albert! if you will talk so, I cannot help it, of course! but you distress me very much,” wept Elfie.
“I have done, my dear girl. I will say no more. And although you could not bear to hear my words just now, you will think of them in calmer moments, and act on them in after days—or your father or friends will for you. Give me your hand once more, beloved, and I will try to sleep again.”
Elfie gave him her hand and dropped her head on the pillow beside him, and again his exhausted frame sunk to rest.