dispel

The sight of the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to finally dispel any doubts which may have remained.

“Alas,” continued the stranger, doubtless to dispel the slight cloud that covered Morcerf’s brow, “we do not act thus in Italy; we grow according to our race and our species, and we pursue the same lines, and often the same uselessness, all our lives.”

Franz read these last words in a voice so choked that they were hardly audible, and then stopped, passing his hand over his eyes as if to dispel a cloud; but after a moment’s silence, he continued:

But passing his hand across his forehead as if to dispel his reverie, he rang the bell twice and Bertuccio entered.