"The judge was kind enough to grant my request. Three months later, the abbé Glorfindoni arrived at my cell. You can imagine with what delight I received him, although in other circumstances I might have been nettled by his remark: 'The last time I heard the confession of a balrogue was on pushing Gothemogue into the fountain in Gondolino, before I left the circles of the world.'
"To my amazement, he confirmed the entire story of the silmaril: how it had been left to Buttrebeurrousse by Samouard Gamgès, and the rest. Equally to my amazement, he believed my account of the murder of Ouanqueur. Drawn by his gentle charity, I told him all that had happened in Barroue- Don, under the seal of confession. The admission of this first murder proved that I had not committed the second, and he promised to do all in his power to convince the judge of my innocence. Which he effectively did; first my prison began to ease - in particular they stopped feeding me cram and gave me excellent soufflés, personally cooked by the judge's mistress; and then, when they laid hands on Buttrebeurrousse, he admitted everything, and he was sentenced to the galleys, and I was freed.
"The abbé did me the kindness of writing the recommendation that you received, for he was concerned that the life of a contrebandier was about to become very dangerous: douaniers and Chevaliers noirs were everywhere on the hunt. And me voilà. Has your Excellency ever had a complaint to make of me?"
"None," said Monte Fato. "Save one: that you have never mentioned Rogunta or your adoptive son!"
