Read the passage below from “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Oh God! what could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still, the men chatted pleasantly and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror! --this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! --and now --again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! --

"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! --here, here! --it is the beating of his hideous heart!"

Based on the context of the passage above, the word dissemble means

1. rest
2. hesitate
3. condone
4. pretend

Highlight the correct answer choice.