"Grand beautiful schemes," said de Gex, with a regretful smile, "such as the one I have just laid out, oft arise more from pride than piety . To create an auto da fé here in the Hay Market to-night would gratify my pride. But it were too grand and gaudy a scheme, under present circumstances. I must show humility, instead, by doing the work quickly, with nicotine. You may take it as a moral lesson: though you have lived expensively, and in grand style, you shall die a simple and humble death in the gutter of Hay Market."