Castle Nowhere by Constance Fenimore Woolson
page 67 of 149 (44%)
page 67 of 149 (44%)
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you suppose I wished to drown the men? Do you suppose I did not know
the greatness of the crime? Ah, I knew it only too well, and yet I sailed out and did the deed! It was for her,--to keep her from suffering; so I sacrificed myself unflinchingly. I would murder a thousand men in cold blood, and bear the thousand additional punishments without a murmur throughout a thousand ages of eternity, to keep my darling safe and warm. Do you not see that the whole was a self-immolation, the greatest, the most complete I could make? I vowed to keep my darling tenderly. I have kept my vow; see that you keep yours.' The voice ceased, the story was told, and the teller gone. The curtain over the past was never lifted again; but often, in after years, Waring thought of this strange life and its stranger philosophy. He could never judge them. Can we? The next day the talk turned upon Silver. 'I know you love her,' said the old man, 'but how much?' 'Does it need the asking?' answered Waring with a short laugh; 'am I not giving up my name, my life, into her hands?' 'You could not give them into hands more pure.' 'I know it; I am content. And yet, I sacrifice something,' replied the young man, thinking of his home, his family, his friends. Old Fog looked at him. 'Do you hesitate?' he said, breaking the pause. 'Of course I do not; why do you ask?' replied Waring, irritably. 'But |
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