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By little and little, it was understood that Renzo had escaped

from the hands of justice, even in the heart of Milan, and had

disappeared: it was whispered that he had committed some enormous

crime, the nature of which remained unknown. The more enormous,

however, the less it was believed, for Renzo was known by every

body to be a worthy youth; the greatest number thought,

therefore, that it was a machination of Don Roderick to ruin his

poor rival. Thus it is true, that judging from inference, and

without the indispensable knowledge of facts, we often wrongfully

suspect even the wicked.