Also, to my horror, I realized for the first time, what I had only vaguely
suspected before, how venomously they had envied me, how violently
embittered most of them were against me, how they had hated their master's
favorite. They were glad to slander me, they enjoyed assisting at my ruin,
they relished the prospect of my being tortured and executed. Moreover it
appeared that they had been carefully coached in what they were to say or
had agreed among themselves, without any outside hints, or after such
hints.
The whole household made it appear that they had always suspected me of
desiring Falco's death in order that I might gain my freedom and enjoy his
promised legacies; that I had enticed and wheedled him into leaving me in
his will an absurdly large share of his property.
They were also unanimous in declaring that they had been unable to bring
home to me the devising of the robbery of the _triclinium_, but they had
all felt certain from the first that I had arranged to have confederates
of mine steal the table silver. They were equally consistent in asserting
that they all believed that I had murdered Falco, after arranging for the
looting of the gem-collection as a blind.
Hour after hour I had to stand and watch wretch after wretch held to the
glowing coals, had to listen to the shrieks of the victims, could not but
realize that Ravillanus was bent on my conviction, that nothing would
swerve him from his purpose.
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