Page 622 sur 1118

"I will save her; yes, I will save her. As soon as the day

breaks, I will fly to her, and say, Go, go in peace. But my

promise! Ay, who is Don Roderick that I should hold sacred a

promise made to him?" With the perplexity of a man to whom a

superior addresses unexpectedly an embarrassing question, the

Unknown endeavoured to reply to this his own, or, rather, that

was whispered by this new principle, that had of a sudden sprung

up so awfully in his soul, to pass judgment upon him. He wondered

how he could have resolved to engage himself to inflict

suffering, without any motive of hatred or fear, on an

unfortunate being whom he did not know, only to render a service

to this man. He could not find any excuse for it; he could not

even imagine how he had been led to do it.