# XXXIX explained — Melmoth the Wanderer > Chapter companion for Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin. ## What happens Melmoth and Monçada find the Wanderer aged and resigned to his fate. He warns them not to approach his room during the night. They hear terrifying sounds, and in the morning find the room empty. They trace footsteps to a seaside cliff, where only a handkerchief remains, suggesting the Wanderer's final disappearance into the ocean. ## Themes in this chapter ### Damnation and Salvation The Wanderer's final moments reflect his eternal damnation and the loss of salvation. ### Supernatural and the Gothic The terrifying sounds, the empty room, and the mysterious disappearance embody Gothic supernatural elements. ## Character check-ins ### John Melmoth Witnesses the Wanderer's final hours and discovers his disappearance. ### Juan di Monçada Accompanies Melmoth and shares in the horror of the Wanderer's end. ### Old Melmoth The Wanderer, now aged and decrepit, faces his final summons and vanishes. ## Key lines > My hour is come, said the Wanderer, it is an hour you must neither partake or witness—the clock of eternity is about to strike, but its knell must be unheard by mortal ears! The Wanderer declares his final moment has arrived, one that cannot be shared or observed by others. _The Wanderer's acceptance of his impending doom._ > They entered—it was empty—not a vestige of its last inhabitant was to be traced within. When they entered the room, they found it completely empty with no sign of the Wanderer. _The mysterious disappearance of the Wanderer._ > It was the handkerchief which the Wanderer had worn about his neck the preceding night—that was the last trace of the Wanderer! The only remaining evidence of the Wanderer was the handkerchief he had worn the previous night. _The final clue to the Wanderer's fate._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/chapters/xxxix - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/melmoth_the_wanderer_se/chapters