Il Maledetto had indulged freely and with apparent recklessness in the
frequent draughts. He was long familiarized to the habits of this wild and
uncouth fellowship, and a singular sentiment, that men of his class choose
to call honor, and which perhaps deserves the name as much as half of the
principles that are described by the same appellation, prevented him from
refusing to incur an equal risk in the common assault on their faculties,
inducing him to swallow his full share of the intoxicating fluid as the
cup passed from one reeking mouth to another. He liked the wine, too, and
tasted its perfume, and cherished its glowing influence, with the perfect
good-will of a man who knew how to profit by the accident which placed
such generous liquor at his command. He had also his designs in wishing to
unmask his companions, and he thought the moment favorable to such an
intention. In addition to these motives, Maso had his especial reasons for
being uneasy at finding himself in the hands of the authorities, and he
was not sorry to bring about a state of things that might lead to his
being confounded with the others in a group of vulgar devotees of Bacchus.
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