Inglesant stared at the man in silence. His words seemed to him to mean far more than perhaps he himself knew. They seemed to come into his mind, softened with anxiety for his brother, and shaken by these terrible events, with the light of a revelation. Surely this was the true secret of his wasted life, however strange might be the place and action which revealed it to him. Whatever he might think afterwards of this night, it might easily stand to him as an allegory of his own spirit, set down before him in a figure. Doubtless he was perverse and headstrong under the pressure of the Divine Hand; doubtless he had followed his own notions rather than the voice of the inward monitor he professed to hear: henceforth, surely, he would give himself up more entirely to the heavenly voice. Eustace appeared to have seen enough of the future, and to be anxious to go. He left a purse of gold upon the wizard’s table; and hurried his brother to take his leave. Outside the air was perfectly still; a thick motionless fog hung over the marsh and the river; not a breath of wind stirred. "That was a strange wind that swept by as you refused to look," said Eustace to his brother; "do you really think the spirits were near, and were incensed?" Inglesant did not reply; he was thinking of another spirit than that the wizard had evoked. They made their way through the fog to Lambeth, and took boat again to the Temple stairs. *CHAPTER XVI.* The next morning, when the brothers awoke and spoke to each other of the events of the night, Eustace did not seem to have been much impressed by them; he ridiculed the astrologer, and made light of the visions in the crystal; he, however, acknowledged to his brother that it might be better to avoid the inn parlour at Mintern, and said they might reach Oulton by another route. "There is a road," he said, "after you leave Cern Abbas, which turns off five or six miles before you come to Mintern; it is not much farther, but it is not so good a road, and not much frequented. It will be quite good enough for us, however, and will not delay us above an hour. But I own I feel ashamed of taking it." John Inglesant, however, encouraged him to do so; and towards middle day they left London on the Windsor Road. Inglesant noticed, as they started, that his brother’s favourite servant was absent, and asked his brother where he was. He replied that he had sent him forward early in the morning to inform his wife of their coming. "I would not have let them know of your intention," said Johnny. Eustace shrugged his shoulders with a peculiar gesture, saying in French,— "It is not convenient for me to come into my family unannounced. I do not know what I might find going forward." Johnny thought that his brother had bought his fortune rather dear; but he said nothing more upon the subject.