It was not my disposition to waste my life by hugging the illusions of the past.

My days were occupied walking long distances to see my patients scattered at distant intervals on this desolate coast, and my nights I spent in antiquarian and archaeological studies, which were always a favourite pursuit of mine.

It was a hobby which earned me some local repute in the course of the years, and was ultimately the means of bringing me face to face with Robert Turold again.
That was the last thing in the world I desired to happen.

In the early years I used to think of him wedded to my wife, and wonder whether he had succeeded in his great ambition.

After a while the memory faded, as most memories do with the passing of the years.
"Then the meeting came--six months ago.