| 354 | 355 | 356 | 357 | 358 |
| 1 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 |
|
pertinaciously, so insultingly denied!
I had also been forced to notice that my tormentor, for a very long
period of time, (while scrupulously and with miraculous dexterity
maintaining his whim of an identity of apparel with myself,) had so
contrived it, in the execution of his varied interference with my will,
that I saw not, at any moment, the features of his face. Be Wilson what
he might, this, at least, was but the veriest of affectation, or of
folly. Could he, for an instant, have supposed that, in my admonisher
at Eton--in the destroyer of my honor at Oxford,--in him who thwarted my
ambition at Rome, my revenge at Paris, my passionate love at Naples, or
what he falsely termed my avarice in Egypt,--that in this, my arch-enemy
and evil genius, could fall to recognise the William Wilson of my
school boy days,--the namesake, the companion, the rival,--the hated and
dreaded rival at Dr. Bransby's? Impossible!--But let me hasten to the
last eventful scene of the drama.
Thus far I had succumbed supinely to this imperious domination. The
sentiment of deep awe with which I habitually regarded the elevated
character, the majestic wisdom, the apparent omnipresence and
omnipotence of Wilson, added to a feeling of even terror, with which
certain other traits in his nature and assumptions inspired me, had
operated, hitherto, to impress me with an idea of my own utter weakness
and helplessness, and to suggest an implicit, although bitterly
356
Page
Quick Jump
|