"And it may have been fatal to others! You know what you promised me, Erik?
No more murders!" "Have I really committed murders ?" he asked, putting on his most amiable air.
"Wretched man!" I cried.

"Have you forgotten the rosy hours of Mazenderan ?" "Yes," he replied, in a sadder tone, "I prefer to forget them.

I used to make the little sultana laugh, though!" "All that belongs to the past," I declared; "but there is the present ...

and you are responsible to me for the present, because, if I had wished, there would have been none at all for you.

Remember that, Erik: I saved your life!" And I took advantage of the turn of conversation to speak to him of something that had long been on my mind: "Erik," I asked, "Erik, swear that ..." "What ?" he retorted.