Summary

As Part 2 begins, the narration then returns to Downing in the past, and to present-tense, third-person narration. At first, the language and focus echo those of the prologue, as it describes how eyeballs and the capacity for sight evolved. The narration then comments that Downing knew and understood the science, but had no scientific understanding of how Ostlet’s eyeballs might have been taken out of his head, preserved and shipped. Meanwhile, Rebecca explains that when Ostlet’s body was returned and buried, his coffin seemed to be too heavy to hold only the body. She says that she felt Downing was the only person she could trust, adding that she had tried to keep the walking ghost of her husband away with roses, as advised by a spiritualist, but that it had not worked. She thinks, she adds, that her husband wants...