Quote:
Originally Posted by Caorthine  Could someone please comment on the meaning of the word behest below. A synonym would be good.
It was the former home of Rose Elizabeth Flood, widow of Captain Armstrong Flood, who had founded the Flood Oil Company. Rose's three daughters were educated by Marguerite Duchesne, a Belgian governess, and when all three were lost during the unfortunate sinking of the SS Endeavor during an Atlantic crossing, a heartbroken Rose returned to theMidwest and bequeathed her home to Mademoiselle Duchesne to found her dream institution.
Little had been done to transform the home into a school: among the prerequisites of the behest was that all the original finishes and furniture were to be carefully main-tained, which made entering the building akin to walking backward in time. |
I think the word is a misuse or typo. It is probably "prerequisites of the bequest" as the previous paragraph refers to "{Rose Elizabeth Flood] bequeathed her home..."
Behest means that someone orders you to do something. What is implied is that a condition of the bequest was that the house be kept as it was in her lifetime.