I
must owe my safety to his own suggestions. Whatever purpose
brought him hither, he had changed it. Why then did he remain?
His resolutions might fluctuate, and the pause of a few minutes
restore to him his first resolutions.
Yet was not this the man whom we had treated with unwearied
kindness? whose society was endeared to us by his intellectual
elevation and accomplishments? who had a thousand times expatiated
on the usefulness and beauty of virtue? Why should such a one be
dreaded? If I could have forgotten the circumstances in which our
interview had taken place, I might have treated his words as jests.
Presently, he resumed:--
"Fear me not: the space that severs us is small, and all visible
succor is distant. You believe yourself completely in my power;
that you stand upon the brink of ruin. Such are your groundless
fears. I cannot lift a finger to hurt you. Easier would it be to
stop the moon in her course than to injure you. The power that
protects you would crumble my sinews and reduce me to a heap of
ashes in a moment, if I were to harbor a thought hostile to your
safety.
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