. Toller next. You will see in
the fragment, what I saw--that Toller the brother had a yacht, and was
going to the Mediterranean; and that Toller the miller had written,
asking him to favour Cristel's escape. The rest, Cristel herself can tell
you.

"I know you had me followed. At Marseilles, I got tired of it, and gave
your men the slip. At every port in the Mediterranean I inquired for the
yacht, and heard nothing of her. They must have changed their minds on
board, and gone somewhere else. I refer you to Cristel again.

"Arrived at Genoa, on my way back to England, I met with a skilled
Italian surgeon. He declared that he could restore my hearing--but he
warned me that I was in a weak state of health, and he refused to answer
for the result of the operation. Without hesitating for a moment, I told
him to operate. I would have given fifty lives for one exquisite week of
perfect hearing. I have had three weeks of perfect hearing. Otherwise, I
have had a life of enjoyment before I die.

"It is useless to ask your pardon. My conduct was too infamous for that.
Will you remember the family taint, developed by a deaf man's isolation
among his fellow-creatures? But I had some days when my mother's sweet
nature tried to make itself felt in me, and did not wholly fail. I am
going to my mother now: her spirit has been with me ever since my hearing
was restored; her spirit said to me last night: "Atone, my son! Give the
man whom you have wronged, the woman whom he loves." I had found out the
uncle's address in England (which I now enclose) at one of the Yacht
Clubs. I had intended to go to the house, and welcome her on her return.
You must go instead of me; you will see that lovely face when I am in my
grave. Good-bye, Roylake. The cold hand that touches us all, sooner or
later, is very near to me. Be merciful to the next scoundrel you meet,
for the sake of The Cur."

I say there _was_ good in that suffering man; and I thank God I was not
quite wrong about him after all. Arriving at Mr. Stephen Toller's country
seat, by the earliest train that would take me there, I found a last
trial of endurance in store for me. Cristel was away with her uncle,
visiting some friends.

Cristel's aunt received me with kindness which I can never forget. "We
have noticed lately that Cristel was in depressed spirits; no uncommon
thing," Mrs. Stephen Toller continued, looking at me with a gentle smile,
"since a parting which I know you must h