6

SUSPENSE

To relate the full experiences of the next few days would be to encumber my
narrative with unnecessary detail.

I did not see Mr. Durand again. My uncle, so amenable in most matters, proved
Inexorable on this point. Till Mr. Durand's good name should be restored by the
coroner's verdict, or such evidence brought to light as should effectually
place him beyond all suspicion, I was to hold no communication with him of any
sort whatever. I remember the very words with which my uncle ended the one
exhaustive conversation we had on the subject. They were these: