"No, indeed! I remember now seeing the letter E. comprised in your
initials written in books you have at different times lent me; but
I never asked for what name it stood. But what then? Surely -- "
I stopped: I could not trust myself to entertain, much less to
express, the thought that rushed upon me -- that embodied itself,
-- that, in a second, stood out a strong, solid probability.
Circumstances knit themselves, fitted themselves, shot into order:
the chain that had been lying hitherto a formless lump of links
was drawn out straight, -- every ring was perfect, the connection
complete. I knew, by instinct, how the matter stood, before St.
John had said another word; but I cannot expect the reader to have
the same intuitive perception, so I must repeat his explanation.
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