At last, at half-past eight, after having sat for five hours with his eyes on the residence of the tomtits, to whom night had brought cessation of thought, if not to him who had observed them, he rose amid the shades of the furniture, and rang the bell.

There were only a servant or two in the castle, one of whom presently came with a light in her hand and a startled look upon her face, which was not reduced when she recognized him; for in the opinion of that household there was something ghoul-like in Mr.Power, which made him no desirable guest.
He ate a late meal, and retired to bed, where he seemed to sleep not unsoundly.

The next morning he received a letter which afforded him infinite satisfaction and gave his stagnant impulses a new momentum.

He entered the library, and amid objects swathed in brown holland sat down and wrote a note to his niece at Amiens.

Therein he stated that, finding that the Anglo-South-American house with which he had recently connected himself required his presence in Peru, it obliged him to leave without waiting for her return.