In which a mysterious and alluring fortune-teller proffers cryptic and strangely comforting auguries, while the journey arrives at a grand but desolate mansion, where a plain-spoken and eccentric kinswoman receives the narrator with boisterous familiarity and keen scrutiny. The contrast between the faded grandeur of the ancestral home and its humble furnishings sharpens the impression of an ancient lineage, whilst anticipation of an encounter with the long-absent Uncle Silas stirs a solemn and almost reverential suspense.