I went on, then, to seek Mr. Forester's society with eagerness; and it
is the nature of an intimacy that does not decline, progressively to
increase. Mr. Falkland observed these symptoms with visible
perturbation. Whenever I was conscious of their being perceived by him,
I betrayed tokens of confusion: this did not tend to allay his
uneasiness. One day he spoke to me alone; and, with a look of mysterious
but terrible import, expressed himself thus:--
"Young man, take warning! Perhaps this is the last time you shall have
an opportunity to take it! I will not always be the butt of your
simplicity and inexperience, nor suffer your weakness to triumph over my
strength! Why do you trifle with me? You little suspect the extent of my
power. At this moment you are enclosed with the snares of my vengeance
unseen by you, and, at the instant that you flatter yourself you are
already beyond their reach, they will close upon you. You might as well
think of escaping from the power of the omnipresent God, as from mine!
If you could touch so much as my finger, you should expiate it in hours
and months and years of a torment, of which as yet you have not the
remotest idea.
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