These fancies are the sleepless thoughts, the fruit of an active memory,
which, at such a time, unrestrained by the waking judgment, mingles up
the counsels and the warnings of your brother and the past, with all the
images and circumstances of the present time. But--go on with your
suggestion. Let me do what I can for the good of those in whom you are
interested."
"You are right: whatever may be my apprehensions, life is uncertain
enough, and needs no dreams to make it more so. Still, I can not rid
myself of this impression, which sticks to me like a shadow. Night after
night I have seen him--just as I saw him a year before he died. But his
looks were full of meaning; and when his lips opened, though I heard not
a word, they seemed to me to say, 'The hour is at hand!' I am sure they
spoke the truth, and I must prepare for it. _If I live_, Mr. Colleton,
Lucy must marry Rivers: there's no hope for her escape. If I die,
there's no reason for the marriage, for she can then bid him defiance.
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