At this point we must examine a little more carefully the peculiar status of what Audubon referred to as the "enigma" of his life. In some of his private journals and letters[244] he dramatically declared that a mystery had surrounded his early existence, which he was bound by a solemn oath exacted by his father never to reveal, and that this secret must be carried by him to the grave. If it be the duty of a biographer to make the true character of his subject known, the passage of time would now seem to sanction reference to many personal matters which a century ago should have been more rigidly guarded. I enter upon this task solely with the view of placing Audubon's character in a truer and fairer light. The essential facts regarding Audubon's birth and early years have now been given, and this is the true, though possibly not the complete, story. Anything which we now add, however, can be regarded as little better than speculation. Audubon is said to have received through his father a large sum of money from an unknown or unnamed source,[245] but as such stories are apt to be exaggerated, especially when an ocean intervenes between a testator and his heir, the statement may be erroneous; we have seen that Lieutenant Audubon was not in a position to make such gifts himself had he been so disposed. If the report were true, the money may have come from the estate of his mother, and through the agency of the mysterious "Audubon of La Rochelle," who is said to have been a politician.[246] In some of the passages which we do not quote, the naturalist would have his family believe that he was of noble birth, that his adoptive father was not his true father, and that both he and Lieutenant Audubon had received irremediable injury through the treachery of the mysterious uncle, "Audubon of La Rochelle." Now these strange statements of the naturalist, though not in accord with the facts as they are known to us, should be interpreted, I believe, in the light of possible stories that may have come to him in the glamour of his youth; his mind may have been diverted by them, he may have believed them, but of this nothing now can positively be known. To continue our conjectures, it is possible that the plain conflict between these supposititious tales and the facts that were revealed at his adoption, his baptism, and in the wills of his father and stepmother, as well as by the lawsuit which followed the former's death, all led him to resort to "enigma." We should also remember that the naturalist, who was careless of dates and historical facts, had finally left his home at the age of twenty, when young men as a rule are not curious about their family history, and that he reached the reminiscent stage late in life. It seems probable that the wording of his father's will and the later attempt to annul it finally induced him to wash his hands of the whole matter, even to breaking off relations with his family in France.