The old man meditates by a stream (Die Schöne Abellina, t1, 1799)

Throughout the novel, a mysterious figure simply described as an old man intervenes to punish injustice and help the virtuous characters. In reality, this is Taddæo, André's brother, who is announced dead at the very start of the work. Taddæo is a spectral revenant who regularly intervenes invisibly to reveal the truth. He has a troupe of initiates who help him in his endeavours: at the moment of the final revelations, a monk comes to see the initiates and tells them that he has seen Taddæo meditating by a stream, his task having been completed, and that the latter has passed on a letter which the monk hands to them.