A penknife lay open upon my table.

I remembered that it was there, and seized it.

For what purpose you will scarcely inquire.

It will be immediately supposed that I meant it for my last refuge, and that if all other means should fail, I should plunge it into the heart of my ravisher.
I have lost all faith in the stedfastness of human resolves.

It was thus that in periods of calm I had determined to act.