Grief and pity were again
mingled in his features. He resumed, in a tone half suffocated by
sobs:--
"But why should I upbraid thee? Could I restore to thee what thou
hast lost, efface this cursed stain, snatch thee from the jaws of
this fiend, I would do it. Yet what will avail my efforts? I have
not arms with which to contend with so consummate, so frightful a
depravity.
"Evidence less than this would only have excited resentment and
scorn. The wretch who should have breathed a suspicion injurious
to thy honor would have been regarded without anger: not hatred or
envy could have prompted him; it would merely be an argument of
madness. That my eyes, that my ears, should bear witness to thy
fall! By no other way could detestable conviction be imparted.
"Why do I summon thee to this conference? Why expose myself to thy
derision? Here admonition and entreaty are vain. Thou knowest him
already for a murderer and thief. I thought to have been the first
to disclose to thee his infamy; to have warned thee of the pit to
which thou art hastening; but thy eyes are open in vain.
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