Again, I bid you look upon this ravaged countenance,
and say, if by any stretch of fancy you can persuade yourself it was
once as comely as your own. You find it difficult to believe my
words--yet such was the fact. Ay," he continued, in a tone of
profoundest melancholy, "I was once proud of the gifts nature had
vouchsafed me; too proud, alas! and I was punished for my vanity and
self-boasting. In those days I loved--and was beloved in return--by a
damsel beautiful as Aveline. After my horrible punishment, I beheld her
no more. Knowing she must regard me with aversion, I shunned her. I
desired not to be an object of pity. Bring this home to your own breast,
Sir Jocelyn, and think how direful would be your lot to be driven for
ever from her you love. Yet, such has been my case."
"I cannot bear the contemplation--it were madness," cried the young man.
There was a brief pause, after which Lanyere resumed his story.
"At the time of being cast into the Fleet Prison, my prospects were fair
enough. When I came forth I was utterly ruined. Existence was a burden
to me, and I should have ended my days by my own hand, if the insatiable
desire of vengeance had not bound me to the world. For this alone I
consented to live--to bear the agonies of blighted love--to endure the
scorn and taunts of all with whom I was brought into contact. Nay, I
attached myself to him who had so deeply wronged me, to ensure revenge
upon him.
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