Mr. Coates was interred in the villa graveyard, there being no point in trying to send the body home. After notifying his uncle, his only relation, a generous gift arrived to provide an appropriate burial stone and to assist with maintenance. This alone redeemed the Earl somewhat in my eyes. Whether it would in Heaven’s view was not mine to determine.
After much discussion along these lines, Estella and I decided to destroy the fatal folio. No more lives would it claim, either accidentally or as part of a nefarious plot such as Mr. Coates had planned.
With the help of Estella’s servants, a huge bonfire was built in the field. With great ceremony, she and I placed the book right in the center, in a place where it could not move or be dislodged.
“Please, dear Matthew, do the honors,” she said, indicating the servant should hand me the torch.
I hesitated briefly at the edge of the stack, knowing that what I was about to do was irrevocable. Once the book burned, it would be gone forever. The monk’s ramblings would be silenced at last.
Then I thought of Estella’s father and Mr. Coates, who while far from perfect, would be with us still if not for that infernal tome.
With determination and a lightness of heart, I bent and touched the flame to the kindling. As the fire caught, flames running along the brittle sticks and licking at the logs, I saw a figure in the distance, watching.
It was the monk from the ruins. After a long moment, he nodded then turned and glided away. We never saw him again.
Estella and I stayed up until the fire had burned itself out. During those sweet hours, I asked her to become my wife, and to my great joy, she accepted. Our plan was to live here, where I will still collect and sell books, able to scour Europe and even beyond for the finest and rarest specimens. I will take on a partner in the Cambridge bookshop and Estella and I will visit, with our children, so I can share my England with them.
Or so we dreamed during that long night under the stars as the huge fire crackled and leaped, burning lower and lower until it was finally ash.
And out of that ash, our new lives have begun.
THE END