Her mother's fortune is secured to her
Alphonse's sister, by the conventional arrangements of the time, would
have been provided by her father with a dowry of some size that legally
became the property of her husband to do with as he willed. In this case
the entire sum has been set aside as her personal "fortune" and is now
returned for the education and welfare of her daughter. This is an
exceedingly generous act on the part of Signore Lavenza, one beyond any
legal necessity on his part.
