"Can you not summon her again?" asked Crescentius, in a tone of deep disappointment. "I must know that other."
"Impossible," replied the conjurer. "The spirit has flown and cannot be recalled. We must commit the body to the earth!"
"My curiosity is excited,—not satisfied," said the Senator. "Would it were to occur again!"
"Thus it is ever," replied Dom Sabbat. "We seek to know that which is forbidden, and quench our thirst at a fount, which but inflames our curiosity the more. You have embarked on a perilous enterprise;—be warned, Senator of Rome! If you continue to pursue it, it will lead you to perdition."
"I cannot retreat," replied Crescentius. "And I would not, if I could. Death to both of us:—this at least is atonement!"
"I warn you again,—if you persist, you are lost!"
"Impossible,—I cannot retreat;—I could not, if I would! By no sophistry can I clear my conscience of the ties imposed upon it. I have sworn never to desist from the execution of this scheme, never—never! And so resolved am I, that if I stood alone in this very hour—I would go on."
"You stand alone!"
No one knew whence the voice had come. The three stood appalled.
A deep groan issued from the corpse.