Iwaitedinthehousetillthetownwasastirfortheday，andthenIwenttoconsultalawyer。Intheconfusedstateofmymindatthetime，IhadoneclearnotionofwhatImeanttodo:Iwasdeterminedtosellmyhouseandleavetheneighborhood。TherewereobstaclesinthewaywhichIhadnotcountedon。IwastoldIhadcreditorstosatisfybeforeIcouldleave——I，whohadgivenmywifethemoneytopaymybillsregularlyeveryweek！InquiryshowedthatshehadembezzledeveryfarthingofthemoneyIhadintrustedtoher。Ihadnochoicebuttopayoveragain。
Placedinthisawkwardposition，myfirstdutywastosetthingsright，withthehelpofmylawyer。DuringmyforcedsojourninthetownIdidtwofoolishthings。And，asaconsequencethatfollowed，Iheardoncemore，andheardforthelasttime，ofmywife。
Inthefirstplace，havinggotpossessionoftheknife，Iwasrashenoughtokeepitinmypocket。Inthesecondplace，havingsomethingofimportancetosaytomylawyer，atalatehouroftheevening，Iwenttohishouseafterdark——aloneandonfoot。Igottheresafelyenough。Returning，Iwasseizedonfrombehindbytwomen，draggeddownapassageandrobbed——notonlyofthelittlemoneyIhadaboutme，butalsooftheknife。Itwasthelawyer’sopinionasitwasminethatthethieveswereamongthedisreputableacquaintancesformedbymywife，andthatthey，hadattackedmeatherinstigation。ToconfirmthisviewIreceivedaletterthenextday，withoutdateoraddress，writteninAlicia’shand。Thefirstlineinformedmethattheknifewasbackagaininherpossession。ThesecondlineremindedmeofthedaywhenI
struckher。Thethirdlinewarnedmethatshewouldwashoutthestainofthatblowinmyblood，andrepeatedthewords，“Ishalldoitwiththeknife！“
Thesethingshappenedayearago。Thelawlaidhandsonthemenwhohadrobbedme；butfromthattimetothis，thelawhasfailedcompletelytofindatraceofmywife。