In the years that followed

In the years that followed, John would marry his childhood

sweetheart, Grace, and they called their firstborn son Elzevir.

Fortune smiled on them, for on his deathbed, the jewel

merchant, Aldobrand begged forgiveness for having stolen

the diamond, and in his will, left great wealth to one John

Trenchard of Moonfleet Village, Dorset, whom he had so

grievously wronged.

It is said that in his final hours, Aldobrand would cry out in

terror, speaking of a large man with a coppery face and a

huge black beard, who stood at the window - mocking.

John and Grace touched not one penny of the money, but

laid it out in good works, renewing the church, creating a

hospital and building a lighthouse - a welcome beacon to

generations of sailors.
From time to time, John would return to the seashore, where

the final words of the friends who had saved him echoed in

his heart. And he loved it best when the waves were lashed

to madness in an Autumn gale, thanking God he was not

fighting for his life in the roar of the surf. For no other man

before or since was taken alive from Moonfleet Bay.