Johannes continued, "You will require the proofs of such an accusation. I have had them in my possession only since early this morning,--here they are." He took several papers from his breast-pocket, and unfolded one of them. Leuthold glanced at it, staggered back, and sank upon a seat.
"Did you write that?" asked Johannes, handing the sheet to Ernestine. "Pray read it."
"No!" she said in evident surprise, as she ran over its contents.
"Or did you affix your name to a deed, ignorant of its contents, in presence of a notary?"
"Never!" was the decided reply.
Möllner breathed freely. "This, then, is the proof that could send your uncle to jail, if I made use of it, for it is a forgery!"
Ernestine made a gesture of dissent, as if she could and would hear no more. But Johannes was not to be deterred. "From your first letter to Helm, and from your conversation with my mother, it is evident, Ernestine, that you consider yourself still a minor. It is true that you are so by the laws of your country, which make the period of minority terminate at the age of twenty-four,--and you are only twenty-two years old. But through Dr. Heim, who was present at the drawing up of your father's will, I know that you are by it declared legally of age at eighteen. This your uncle has concealed from you. We will speak by-and-by of his reasons for this concealment."
"Then I have been my own mistress now for four years?" cried Ernestine in inconceivable amazement,--"and you, uncle, have treated me as if I were a child?"
"More than that,--he has withheld your property from you. Here is a copy of your father's will. You will see that it accords you the right, at eighteen years of age, to take possession of the estate, put in trust for you in the guardians' court, and dispose of it as you please. Of course you could not avail yourself of this right, as you were kept in utter ignorance of it, as well as of the fact that you had attained your majority. But your uncle has availed himself of it in your stead. He has contrived--Heaven only knows how--to imitate your handwriting--and forge the signature to the document by which the guardians' court delivered over to you--that is, to your uncle--the property in its charge for you. There was no doubt cast upon the authenticity of the document, for it was drawn up in due form by an Italian notary and accredited by two witnesses to your personal identity. When I suspected that your uncle had purposely kept you in ignorance of your affairs, I acquainted the court with my suspicions, and they delivered to me this copy of the document which I have just handed you for identification. You have declared it a forgery. Whether I now spare or destroy this man will depend upon the result of what we have to say to each other. That I allow him one word of explanation is due to my regard, not for him, but for your sense of delicacy, Ernestine, which would suffer deeply in your uncle's disgrace."
Having thus spoken, while Ernestine had listened in mute amazement, Johannes turned to Leuthold. "I ask you, Doctor Gleissert, what you have done with the money that you have hitherto withheld from your niece."