"Frank and unsuspicious, Avicia showed this letter to Kristel.
"'Your father suspects me,' he said. 'I will come and seek you the moment I am free.'
"Being set free by his father's death, he redeemed his promise. Thus it was that they met again.
"I set myself to the study of Avicia's character; I wished to ascertain whether she was a coquette. What I learned filled me with admiration. She was a child of nature; ingenuous and modest, with no desire to make a traffic of her beauty in the way of winning men's hearts. She did not win mine as a lover, but she won my esteem as a friend.
"Needless to say we did not leave the village; indeed, we took up permanent quarters there. Observing Kristel and Silvain when they were with Avicia, I foresaw a storm--a storm all the more terrible and significant because of the peculiar ties of sympathy by which the brothers were bound to each other. They bought a boat, and took into their service two men of the village, to row them to and fro. Not a fine day passed without their visiting the lighthouse, and after a time they seldom went empty-handed. At first they were unsuspicious of each other, but presently I intercepted glances, the meaning of which it was impossible to me--an observer who wished them well and was not likely to interfere with their heart's dearest wish--to misunderstand. Love had found its place--and jealousy also. As for Avicia she made no conspicuous sign. How was it to end. With fear I asked this question of myself.
"Of the two I distrusted Kristel the more. Of the two I had more dread of him than of Silvain. Not divining to which of the brothers Avicia's heart was truly drawn, believing that her faithful love could be won by either were the other away, I devised a plan--which proved to be a trap into which I myself was to fall.
"I intercept the course of my narrative at this point by mentioning something which should have been mentioned earlier. Baldwin was the name by which Avicia's father was known. I have told you he was an avaricious man. He was something more than this--he was a designing man, and he played one brother against the other. They grew, as I have said, into the habit of taking presents with them when they visited the lighthouse, presents of wine and food and flowers. The wine and food were acceptable to Avicia's father, the flowers he despised.
"'But,' said Kristel to him, 'the flowers are for Avicia.'
"'Exactly,' said Baldwin, 'but were I a young man, and rich, and made presents to a young girl, they should not always be flowers which fade in a day, and are flung into the sea. I should think of things more substantial, things that would last and would always retain their value.'
"Upon this hint they were not slow to act. They sent letters to distant towns; they made secret visits to places not so far away as to necessitate their absence for not longer than twenty-four hours, and armed with ornaments and jewels they made their appearance at the lighthouse, and presented them to Avicia. She wore none of them; her father took possession of them, with the remark, 'It would be unbecoming for a single girl to display these gewgaws upon her neck and arms. By and by, when she is a married woman, then will be the time, if other things are in keeping. Meanwhile, I am a safe custodian--and mark you,' he added, with an emphasis which caused me to regard him with abhorrence (for I was present when he said it), 'my daughter has been taught to obey me. My will is her law.'