Iwaitedanxiouslyforthedecisionatwhichhemightarrive。
Nothingcameofittojustifymymisgivings。\"LeavewhatIhaveinmymindtoripeninmymind，\"hesaid。\"Themysteryaboutthegirls’agesseemstoirritateyou。IfIputmygoodfriend’stempertoanyfurthertrial，hewillbeofnousetome。Nevermindifmyheadswims；I’musedtothat。Nowlisten！\"
Strangeastheprefacewas，theexplanationthatfollowedwasstrangeryet。Iofferashortenedandsimplifiedversion，givingaccuratelythesubstanceofwhatIheard。
TheMinisterenteredwithoutreserveonthemysterioussubjectoftheages。Eunice，heinformedme，wasnearlytwoyearsolderthanHelena。Ifsheoutwardlyshowedhersuperiorityofage，anypersonacquaintedwiththecircumstancesunderwhichtheadoptedinfanthadbeenreceivedintoMr。Gracedieu’schildlesshousehold，needonlycomparetheso—calledsistersinafter—life，andwouldthereuponidentifytheeldest—lookingyoungladyofthetwoastheoffspringofthewomanwhohadbeenhangedformurder。
Withsuchamisfortuneasthispresentingitselfasapossibleprospect，theMinisterwasboundtopreventthegirlsfromignorantlybetrayingeachotherbyallusionstotheiragesandtheirbirthdays。Aftermuchthought，hehaddevisedadesperatemeansofmeetingthedifficulty——alreadymadeknown，asIamtold，fortheinformationofstrangerswhomayreadthepagesthathavegonebeforemine。Myfriend’splanofproceedinghad，bythenatureofit，exposedhimtoinjuriouscomment，toembarrassingquestions，andtodoubtsandmisconceptions，allpatientlyenduredinconsiderationofthesecuritythathadbeenattained。Proudofhisexplanation，Mr。Gracedieu’svanitycalleduponmetoacknowledgethatmycuriosityhadbeensatisfied，andmydoubtscompletelysetatrest。