He died suddenly. A month before his death he received a letter from a Spanish priest, who informed him of the death of the Princess Andriocchi, and enclosed him a sealed envelope addressed to him in Mercedes’ handwriting. He recognised the writing at once, though in character it was larger and firmer. It contained a slip of paper, on which was inscribed one word—“_Come!_” That word seemed to pierce his heart like an arrow. From that day his strength waned, his health failed. His household were hardly astonished when, one morning, he was found sitting in his chair by the library window, the early sunlight hovering about his dead, smiling face. He passed away, smiling—a joyful smile that none had ever seen upon his face before. THE END. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES 1. P. 240, changed “If tell Helven this,” to “If I tell Helven this”. 2. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. 3. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.