A Matter of Millions by Anna Katharine Green

Author:Anna Katharine Green
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Published: 2022-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XXVI.

The Quest.

“I took no one into my confidence. I merely told Mr. Cutting and the doctor that I was not at liberty to divide the fortune which had been left me, and then waited to see if the will would be contested. I expected it would be, but only one or two adventurers put in claims, and these were so manifestly fraudulent that the matter was never carried into court. When I felt myself firmly settled in my position and recognized as the legal possessor of these millions, I quickly left Cleveland and went to New York. Taking rooms in the most retired hotel I could find, I began the search delegated to me. I went, first, to the directory and took the addresses of all the families by the name of ‘Rogers’ that were to be found there; then where their position warranted it I visited these families, and where it did not, I learned through such persons as I thought it safe to employ, whether there was a Jenny among the daughters, and if there was, I contrived to see the girl, often finding one glimpse to be enough to satisfy me as to her ineligibility.

“The child of Abram Rogers was the first one that struck me favorably. Not that I was satisfied even with her beauty, but I had seen so many bold and uncultivated girls among my wanderings among the poorer classes, where I naturally went first, that I could not but be struck by her innocent naivete of expression and the inherent goodness to be discerned in her sweet face. But when I had made up my mind to know her better, and, with this purpose in view, called at the house where she lived, I was shocked to hear that sickness and death had been before me, and that the fair young girl had passed forever from my reach and from that of the money with which I had contemplated endowing her.

“Thrown off my balance by this incident, I next visited the various schools, and though I did not find a scholar to suit me, I heard of a young teacher who was said to possess every personal and mental attraction which one could desire in a woman. So warmly was she praised, that I became assured even before seeing her that my task was at an end, and could hardly contain my impatience while waiting for the letter of introduction which I had sought and obtained from a member of the school-board in whom I was happy to recognize an old friend.

“And when I went into this girl’s humble home and noted its neatness and the marks of good taste which everywhere abounded, I did not need the sight of her winning yet intelligent face to recognize the presence of one of those domestic angels who grace any home and nobly fill the most elevated stations. I talked with her, and my liking and admiration grew. Had she not risen to her

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