My purpose to-night is to
give you some reasonable explanation of the conduct which has
produced those reports. My secret has been hitherto confided to
one person only; I am now about to trust it to your keeping, with
a special object which will appear as I go on. First, however, I
must begin by telling you exactly what the great difficulty is
which obliges me to be still absent from England. I want your
advice and your help; and, to conceal nothing from you, I want
also to test your forbearance and your friendly sympathy, before
I can venture on thrusting my miserable secret into your keeping.
Will you pardon this apparent distrust of your frank and open
character--this apparent ingratitude for your kindness toward me
ever since we first met?"
I begged him not to speak of these things, but to go on.
"You know," he proceeded, "that I am here to recover the body of
my Uncle Stephen, and to carry it back with me to our family
burial-place in England, and you must also be aware that I have
not yet succeeded in discovering his remains. Try to pass over,
for the present, whatever may seem extraordinary and
incomprehensible in such a purpose as mine is, and read this
newspaper article where the ink-line is traced. It is the only
evidence hitherto obtained on the subject of the fatal duel in
which my uncle fell, and I want to hear what course of proceeding
the perusal of it may suggest to you as likely to be best on my
part.
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