Now, at the very point of death, he comes
forward with perfect coolness, and tells me that the whole story was a
plot made out of his own head."
"Do you believe him now?"
"I became very wroth, and said that it was a lie! I did think that it
was a lie. I did flatter myself that in a matter concerning my own
business, and in which I was bound to look after the welfare of others,
he could not have so deceived me; but I find myself as a child--as a
baby--in his hands."
"Then you do believe him now?"
"I am afraid so. I will never see him again, if it be possible for me to
avoid him. He has treated me as no one should have treated his enemy,
let alone a faithful friend. He must have scoffed and scorned at me
merely because I had faith in his word. Who could have thought of a man
laying his plots so deeply,--arranging for twenty years past the frauds
which he has now executed? For thirty years, or nearly, his mind has
been busy on these schemes, and on others, no doubt, which he has not
thought it necessary to execute, and has used me in them simply as a
machine. It is impossible that I should forgive him."
"And what will be the end of it?" she asked.
"Who can say? But this is clear. He has utterly destroyed my character
as a lawyer.
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