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abruptly.
"
This, my friend, is probably the last time we shall have an opportunity of
conversing freely; my plans are now in full operation, and my time will
become more and more occupied. Besides, I wish at once to tell you my
wishes and expectations, and then never again to revert to so painful a
subject. First, I must thank you, Lionel, for having remained here at my
request. Vanity first prompted me to ask you: vanity, I call it; yet even
in this I see the hand of fate--your presence will soon be necessary; you
will become the last resource of Perdita, her protector and consoler. You
will take her back to Windsor."--
"Not without you," I said. "You do not mean to separate again?"
"Do not deceive yourself," replied Raymond, "the separation at hand is one
over which I have no control; most near at hand is it; the days are already
counted. May I trust you? For many days I have longed to disclose the
mysterious presentiments that weigh on me, although I fear that you will
ridicule them. Yet do not, my gentle friend; for, all childish and unwise
as they are, they have become a part of me, and I dare not expect to shake
them off.
"Yet how can I expect you to sympathize with me? You are of this world; I
am not. You hold forth your hand; it is even as a part of yourself; and you
do not yet divide the feeling of identity from the mortal form that shapes
forth Lionel. How then can you understand me? Earth is to me a tomb, the
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