"'How?' I asked, in a whirl of apprehension. "'That,' replied the old woman, 'is what we're waiting to find out.' "'It is true that my friends have left the village, is it not?' "'There's nothing truer.' "I saw that she had not imparted to me all she knew, and that she was enjoying herself at my expense by doling it slowly out. My mood was too impatient for crumbs, and I said, if she were not more swiftly communicative, that I would go immediately to the lighthouse, where I could doubtless obtain from Avicia information of the movements of Silvain and Kristel. The old woman laughed, and said I must seek elsewhere for Avicia. "'I thought I told you,' she said, 'that Avicia had also disappeared. Be a little patient, and you will know everything. You're lucky, for I'm the only one in the village that can tell you things.' "I had no choice; I was compelled to be patient, and, related in my own words, this is what I learnt: "After my departure the wooing of Kristel and Silvain had become more fierce, and they were aware that they were rivals. It may or may not have been that Avicia had given and confessed her love to one of the brothers, but upon this point there was not even the evidence of hearsay, and my perplexity and distress were the greater because of my ignorance. Avicia came more frequently from the lighthouse to the village, and always in the company of both Kristel and Silvain. These visits were made during the day, and in the evening the brothers, having dispensed with the service of the boatmen they had engaged, were in the habit of rowing Avicia home. One night, upon the return of Silvain and Kristel to the village, the old woman from whom I obtained these particulars overheard them conversing. She was unable to fix the identity of each speaker, for the night was dark, and she could not distinguish the voices as coming from either the one or the other. I could well excuse her for this, because, if I had been in her place, and concealed as she was, I myself should have been in doubt of the particular speaker who, for the moment, engaged my attention. This is what she overheard: "'It is time to put an end to this. I have suffered in silence too long, and I can no longer bear my sufferings. Why do you bar my path to happiness?' "'Why do you bar mine? I love Avicia.' "'I also love her.' "'You have concealed it from me.' "'Have you not done the same by me?' "'How, then, could I suspect that you were my rival?' "'How could I?' "'You madden me by your retorts. Can you not understand that you are driving me to desperation? She is the light of my life!' "'And of mine!' "That was all she heard. They moved away out of sight, and she was afraid to follow.