"Ah! letters from my father!" and he untied the package,—"What is this? I never saw it before!"
It was a letter directed to him in his father's hand, and sealed with his father's seal. To his complete astonishment the seal was unbroken.
"How came this letter here? My father's seal and unbroken,—this is indeed strange!"
He regarded the letter carefully, weighed it in his hand, but paused, in hesitation, ere he broke the seal. For the first time, written around the seal, in his father's hand, he beheld these words, "Not to be opened until my death."
Tears started into Randolph's eyes, and for a moment, as he knelt there, he rested his forehead on his hand.
Then, with an eager hand, he broke the seal. The contents of the letter were bared to the light.
"Heidelberg, September 23, 1840.
"Dearest Son:—
"You have just left me, and with the memory of our late conversation fresh in my mind, I now write this letter, which you will not read until I am dead. Randolph, I repeat the truth of that which I have just disclosed to you,—your mother was not my mistress, but my lawful wife. Yourself and Esther are legitimate. By my will I make you, with Harry, joint inheritors of my estate, and of my share in the Van Huyden estate.
"Your mother, Herodia, was not the child of Colonel Rawdon, but the dearly beloved daughter of —— ——, who never acknowledged her to the world. He communicated, however, the secret of her paternity to Rawdon, and left her in his charge, intrusting him with a sealed packet, which he directed should be delivered to Herodia's son, in case a son was ever born to her. A packet which contained a commission, upon whose fulfillment by that son, the happiness, the destiny of all the races on the American continent, might depend. Worshiping the memory of this great man, Rawdon treated Herodia (known as a slave) as his own child and would not transfer her to me, until I had made her my wife in a secret marriage.
"A sealed copy of my will I gave you a few moments since; and this letter contains an original letter of —— ——, written to Colonel Rawdon, and recognizing Herodia as his child.
"When I am dead, you will find the packet in a secret closet behind the fourth shelf of my library, at Hill Royal. There you will also find a large amount of gold, which may be useful to you in some unforeseen hour of adversity, and which I hereby give to you and Esther.
"This letter I inclose in the package of letters which you left for my perusal.
"Your father,
"John Augustine Royalton,
"of Hill Royal."
Randolph read this letter with signs of emotion not to be mistaken. Rising from his knees, he walked slowly up and down the room, his eyes shaded by his uplifted hand. As he drew near the window, his pale face was flushed, his eyes radiant with new light.
"So! I am then the elder brother, the real lord of Hill Royal! My mother was a slave, but she was the lawful wife of my father." His brow clouded and his lips curved. "It seems to me this younger brother has given us trouble enough,—let him have a care how his shadow crosses my way for the future."
He stood erect in every inch of his stature, his eyes dilating, and his hand extended, as though,—even like a glorious landscape, rich in vine-clad mountains and grassy meadows, smiling in the sun,—he beheld his future stretch clear and bold before him.