control of their malice?

"It, was in the interest excited in me by the strange and terrible fate
that befell an Armenian family with which I was slightly acquainted,
that I first traced--in the creature I am now about to describe, and
whose course I devote myself to watch, and trust to bring to a
close--the murderer of Haroun for the sake of the elixir of youth.

"In this Armenian family there were three daughters; one of them--"

I had just read thus far when a dim shadow fell over the page, and a cold
air seemed to breathe on me,--cold, so cold, that my blood halted in my
veins as if suddenly frozen! Involuntarily I started, and looked up, sure
that some ghastly presence was in the room. And then, on the opposite
side of the wall, I beheld an unsubstantial likeness of a human form.
Shadow I call it, but the word is not strictly correct, for it was
luminous, though with a pale shine. In some exhibition in London there is
shown a curious instance of optical illusion; at the end of a corridor you
see, apparently in strong light, a human skull. You are convinced it is
there as you approach; it is, however, only a reflection from a skull at a
distance. The image before me was less vivid, less seemingly prominent
than is the illusion I speak of. I was not deceived. I felt it was a
spectrum, a phantasm; but I felt no less surely that it was a reflection
from an animate form,--the form and face of Margrave; it was there,
distinct, unmistakable. Conceiving that he himself must be behind me, I
sought to rise, to turn round, to examine. I could not move: limb and
muscle were overmastered by some incomprehensible spell. Gradually my
senses forsook me; I became unconscious as well as motionless. When I
recovered, I heard the clock strike three. I must have been nearly two
hours insensible! The candles before me were burning low. My eyes rested