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Title: Veranilda

Author: George Gissing

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Edited by Charles Aldarondo (aldarondo@yahoo.com)

Veranilda

By George Gissing






CHAPTER I

THE VANQUISHED ROMAN




Seven years long had the armies of Justinian warred against the
Goths in Italy. Victor from Rhegium to Ravenna, the great commander
Belisarius had returned to the East, Carrying captive a Gothic king.
The cities of the conquered land were garrisoned by barbarians of
many tongues, who bore the name of Roman soldiers; the Italian
people, brought low by slaughter, dearth, and plague, crouched under
the rapacious tyranny of governors from Byzantium.

Though children born when King Theodoric still reigned had yet
scarce grown to manhood, that golden age seemed already a legend of
the past. Athalaric, Amalasuntha, Theodahad, last of the Amal blood,
had held the throne in brief succession and were gone; warriors
chosen at will by the Gothic host, mere kings of the battlefield,
had risen and perished; reduced to a wandering tribe, the nation
which alone of her invaders had given peace and hope to Italy, which
alone had reverenced and upheld the laws, polity, culture of Rome,
would soon, it was thought, be utterly destroyed, or vanish in
flight beyond the Alps. Yet war did not come to an end. In the plain
of the great river there was once more a chieftain whom the Goths
had raised upon their shields, a king, men said, glorious in youth
and strength, and able, even yet, to worst the Emperor's generals.
His fame increased. Ere long he was known to be moving southward, to
have crossed the Apennines, to have won a battle in Etruria. The
name of this young hero was Totila.

In these days the senators of Rome, heirs to a title whose ancient
power and dignity were half-forgotten, abode within the City, under
constraint disguised as honour, the conqueror's hostages. One among
them, of noblest name, Flavius Anicius Maximus, broken in health by
the troubles of the time and by private sorrow, languishing all but
unto death in the heavy air of the Tiber, was permitted to seek
relief in a visit to which he would of his domains in Italy. His
birth, his repute, gave warrant of loyalty to the empire, and his
coffers furnished the price put upon such a favour by Byzantine
greed. Maximus chose for refuge his villa by the Campanian shore,
vast, beautiful, half in ruin, which had been enjoyed by generations
of the Anician family; situated above the little town of Surrentum
it caught the cooler breeze, and on its mountainous promontory lay
apart from the tramp of armies. Here, as summer burned into autumn,
the sick man lived in brooding silence, feeling his strength waste,
and holding to the world only by one desire.

The household comprised his unwedded sister Petronilla, a lady in
middle age, his nephew Basil, and another kinsman, Decius, a student
and an invalid; together with a physician, certain freedmen who
rendered services of trust, a eunuch at the Command of Petronilla,
and the usual body of male and female slaves. Some score of
glebe-bound peasants cultivated the large estate for their lord's
behoof. Notwithstanding the distress that had fallen upon the Roman
nobility, many of whom were sunk into indigence, the chief of the
Anicii still controlled large means; and the disposal of these
possessions at his death was matter of interest to many persons--
not least to the clergy of Rome, who found in the dying man's sister
a piously tenacious advocate. Children had been born to Maximus, but
the only son who reached mature years fell a victim to pestilence
when Vitiges was camped about the City. There survived one daughter,
Aurelia. Her the father had not seen for years; her he longed to see
and to pardon ere he died. For Aurelia, widowed of her first husband
in early youth, had used her liberty to love and wed a flaxen-haired
barbarian, a lord of the Goths; and, worse still, had renounced the
Catholic faith for the religion of the Gothic people, that heresy of
Arianism condemned and abhorred by Rome. In Consequence she became
an outcast from her kith and kin. Her husband commanded in the city
of Cumae, hard by Neapolis. When this stronghold fell before the
advance of Belisarius, the Goth escaped, soon after to die in
battle; Aurelia, a captive of the Conquerors, remained at Cumae, and
still was living there, though no longer under restraint. Because of
its strength, this ancient city became the retreat of many ladies
who fled from Rome before the hardships and perils of the siege;
from them the proud and unhappy woman. ever held apart, yet she
refused to quit the town when she would have been permitted to do
so. From his terrace above the Surrentine shore, Maximus gazed
across the broad gulf to the hills that concealed Cumae, yearning
for the last of his children. When at length he wrote her a letter,
a letter of sad kindness, inviting rather than beseeching her to
visit him, Aurelia made no reply. Wounded, he sunk again into
silence, until his heart could no longer bear its secret burden, and
he spoke--not to Petronilla, from whose austere orthodoxy little
sympathy was to be expected--but to his nephew Basil, whose
generous mettle willingly lent itself to such a service as was
proposed. On his delicate mission, the young man set forth without
delay. To Cumae, whether by sea or land, was but a short journey:
starting at daybreak, Basil might have given ample time to his
embassy, and have been back again early on the morrow. But the
second day passed, and he did not return. Though harassed by the
delay, Maximus tried to deem it of good omen, and nursed his hope
through another sleepless night.

Soon after sunrise, he was carried forth to his place of
observation, a portico in semicircle, the marble honey-toned by
time, which afforded shelter from the eastern rays and commanded a
view of vast extent. Below him lay the little town, built on the
cliffs above its landing-place; the hillsides on either hand were
clad with vineyards, splendid in the purple of autumn, and with
olives. Sky and sea shone to each other in perfect calm; the softly
breathing air mingled its morning freshness with a scent of fallen
flower and leaf. A rosy vapour from Vesuvius floated gently inland;
and this the eye of Maximus marked with contentment, as it signified
a favourable wind for a boat crossing hither from the far side of
the bay. For the loveliness of the scene before him, its noble
lines, its jewelled colouring, he had little care; but the infinite
sadness of its suggestion, the decay and the desolation uttered by
all he saw, sank deep into his heart. If his look turned to the
gleaming spot which was the city of Neapolis, there came into his
mind the sack and massacre of a few years ago, when Belisarius so
terribly avenged upon the Neapolitans their stubborn resistance to
his siege. Faithful to the traditions of his house, of his order,
Maximus had welcomed the invasion which promised to restore Italy to
the Empire; now that the restoration was effected, he saw with
bitterness the evils resulting from it, and all but hoped that this
new king of the Goths, this fortune-favoured Totila, might sweep the
land of its Greek oppressors. He looked back upon his own life, on
the placid dignity of his career under the rule of Theodoric, the
offices by which he had risen, until he sat in the chair of the
Consul. Yet in that time, which now seemed so full of peaceful
glories, he had never at heart been loyal to the great king; in his
view, as in that of the nobles generally, Theodoric was but a
usurper, who had abused the mandate intrusted to him by the Emperor
Zeno, to deliver Italy from the barbarians. When his own kinsmen,
Boethius and Symmachus, were put to death on a charge of treachery,
Maximus burned with hatred of the Goth. He regarded with disdain the
principles of Cassiodorus, who devoted his life to the Gothic cause,
and who held that only as an independent kingdom could there be hope
for Italy. Having for a moment the ear of Theodoric's daughter,
Amalasuntha, when she ruled for her son, Maximus urged her to yield
her kingdom to the Emperor, and all but saw his counsel acted upon.
After all, was not Cassiodorus right? Were not the senators who had
ceaselessly intrigued with Byzantium in truth traitors to Rome? It
was a bitter thought for the dying man that all his life he had not
only failed in service to his country, but had obstinately wrought
for her ruin.

Attendants placed food beside him. He mingled wine with water and
soothed a feverish thirst. His physician, an elderly man of Oriental
visage, moved respectfully to his side, greeted him as Illustrious,
inquired how his Magnificence had passed the latter part of the
night. Whilst replying, as ever courteously--for in the look and
bearing of Maximus there was that _senatorius decor_ which Pliny
noted in a great Roman of another time--his straining eyes seemed
to descry a sail in the quarter he continually watched. Was it only
a fishing boat? Raised upon the couch, he gazed long and fixedly.
Impossible as yet to be sure whether he saw the expected bark; but
the sail seemed to draw nearer, and he watched.

The voice of a servant, who stood at a respectful distance,
announced: 'The gracious Lady'; and there appeared a little
procession. Ushered by her eunuch, and attended by half a dozen
maidens, one of whom held over her a silk sunshade with a handle of
gold, the sister of Maximus approached at a stately pace. She was
tall, and of features severely regular; her dark hair--richer in
tone and more abundant than her years could warrant--rose in
elaborate braiding intermingled with golden threads; her waistless
robe was of white silk adorned with narrow stripes of purple, which
descended, two on each side, from the shoulders to the hem, and
about her neck lay a shawl of delicate tissue. In her hand, which
glistened with many gems, she carried a small volume, richly bound,
the Psalter. Courtesies of the gravest passed between her and
Maximus, who, though he could not rise from his couch, assumed an
attitude of graceful deference, and Petronilla seated herself in a
chair which a slave had placed for her. After many inquiries as to
her brother's health, the lady allowed her eyes to wander for a
moment, then spoke with the smile of one who imparts rare tidings.

'Late last night--too late to trouble you with the news--there
came a post from the reverend deacon Leander. He disembarked
yesterday at Salernum, and, after brief repose, hopes to visit us.
Your Amiability will, I am sure, welcome his coming.'

'Assuredly,' answered Maximus, bending his head, whilst his eyes
watched the distant sail. 'Whence comes he?'

'From Sicily. We shall learn, I dare say, the business which took
him there,' added Petronilla, with a self-satisfied softening of her
lips. 'The deacon is wont to talk freely with me of whatever
concerns the interests of our holy Church, even as I think you
remember, has now and then deigned--though I know not how I have
deserved such honour--to ask, I dare not say my counsel, but my
humble thoughts on this or that. I think we may expect him before
morning. The day will not be too warm for travel.'

Maximus wore an anxious look, and spoke after hesitation.

'Will his reverend leisure permit him to pass more than one day with
us?'

'Earnestly I hope so. You, beyond doubt, dear lord, my brother, will
desire long privacy with the holy man. His coming at this time is
plainly of Heaven's direction.'

'Lady sister,' answered Maximus, with the faintest smile on his sad
features, 'I would not willingly rob you of a moment's conference
with the good deacon. My own business with him is soon despatched. I
would fain be assured of burial in the Temple of Probus where sleep
our ancestors.'

'Of that,' replied Petronilla, solemnly and not unkindly, 'doubt not
for a moment. Your body shall lie there, by the blessed Peter's
sanctuary, and your tomb be honoured among those of the greatest of
our blood. But there is another honour that I covet for you, an
honour above all that the world can bestow. In these sad times,
Maximus, the Church has need of strengthening. You have no children--'

A glance from the listener checked her, and, before she could
resume, Maximus interposed in a low voice:

'I have yet a daughter.'

'A daughter?' exclaimed Petronilla, troubled, confused, scarce
subduing indignation.

'It is better I should tell you,' continued her brother, with some
sternness, resulting from the efforts to command himself, 'that
Basil is gone to Cumae to see Aurelia, and, if it may be, to lead
her to me. Perhaps even now'--he pointed to the sea--'they are
on the way hither. Let us not speak of it, Petronilla,' he added in
a firmer tone. 'It is my will; that must suffice. Of you I ask
nothing save silence.'

The lady arose. Her countenance expressed angry and bitter feeling,
but there was no danger of her uttering what she thought. Gravely,
somewhat coldly, she spoke good wishes for her brother's ease during
the day, and so retired with her retinue. Alone, Maximus sighed, and
looked again across the waters.

In a few minutes the servant who guarded his privacy was again heard
announcing the lord Decius. The Senator turned his eyes with a look
of good-humoured greeting.

'Abroad so early, good cousin? Did the oil fail you last night and
send you too soon to bed?'

'You have not chanced to remember, dear my lord, what day it is?'
returned Decius, when he had bestowed a kiss on his kinsman's cheek.
'Had I but vigour enough, this morning would have seen me on a
pilgrimage to the tomb.' He put out a hand towards Neapolis. 'I rose
at daybreak to meditate the Fourth Eclogue.'

'The ides of October--true. I take shame to myself for having lost
the memory of Virgil in my own distresses.'

Decius, whose years were scarce thirty, had the aspect and the gait
of an elderly man; his thin hair streaked with grey, his cheeks
hollow, his eyes heavy, he stooped in walking and breathed with
difficulty; the tunic and the light cloak, which were all his
attire, manifested an infinite carelessness in matters of costume,
being worn and soiled. Than he, no Roman was poorer; he owned
nothing but his clothing and a few books. Akin to the greatest, and
bearing a name of which he was inordinately proud--as a schoolboy
he had once burst into tears when reciting with passion the Lay of
the Decii--felt content to owe his sustenance to the delicate and
respectful kindness of Maximus, who sympathised with the great wrong
he had suffered early in life. This was no less than wilful
impoverishment by his father, who, seeking to atone for sins by
fanaticism, had sold the little he possessed to found a pilgrims'
hospice at Portus, whither, accompanied by the twelve-year-old boy,
he went to live as monk-servitor In a year or two the penitent died;
Decius, in revolt against the tasks to which he was subjected,
managed to escape, made his way to Rome, and appealed to Maximus.
Nominally he still held the post of secretary to his benefactor, but
for many years he had enjoyed entire leisure, all of it devoted to
study. Several times illness had brought him to the threshold of
death, yet it had never conquered his love of letters, his
enthusiasm for his country's past. Few liked him only one or two
understood him: Decius was content that it should be so.

'Let us speak of it,' he continued, unrolling a manuscript of Virgil
some two hundred years old, a gift to him from Maximus. 'Tell me,
dear lord, your true thought: is it indeed a prophecy of the Divine
Birth? To you'--he smiled his gentle, beautiful smile--'may I
not confess that I have doubted this interpretation? Yet'--he cast
his eyes down--'the doubt is perhaps a prompting of the spirit of
evil.'

'I know not, Decius, I know not,' replied the sick man with
thoughtful melancholy. 'My father held it a prophecy his father
before him.--But forgive me, I am expecting anxiously the return
of Basil; yonder sail--is it his? Your eyes see further than
mine.'

Decius at once put aside his own reflections, and watched the
oncoming bark. Before long there was an end of doubt. Rising in
agitation to his feet, Maximus gave orders that the litter, which
since yesterday morning had been in readiness, should at once be
borne with all speed down to the landing-place. Sail and oars soon
brought the boat so near that Decius was able to descry certain
female figures and that of a man, doubtless Basil, who stood up and
waved his arms shoreward.

'She has come,' broke from Maximus; and, in reply to his kinsman's
face of inquiry, he told of whom it was he spoke.

The landing-place was not visible from here. As soon as the boat
disappeared beneath the buildings of the town, Maximus requested of
his companion a service which asked some courage in the performance:
it was, to wait forthwith upon the Lady Petronilla, to inform her
that Aurelia had just disembarked, to require that three female
slaves should be selected to attend upon the visitor. This mission
Decius discharged, not without trembling; he then walked to the main
entrance of the villa, and stood there, the roll of Virgil still in
his hand, until the sound of a horse's hoofs on the upward road
announced the arrival of the travellers. The horseman, who came some
yards in advance of the slave-borne litter, was Basil. At sight of
Decius, he dismounted, and asked in an undertone: 'You know?' The
other replied with the instructions given by Maximus, that the
litter, which was closed against curious eyes, should be straightway
conveyed to the Senator's presence, Basil himself to hold apart
until summoned.

And so it was done. Having deposited their burden between two
columns of the portico, the bearers withdrew. The father's voice
uttered the name of Aurelia, and, putting aside the curtains that
had concealed her, she stood before him. A woman still young, and of
bearing which became her birth; a woman who would have had much
grace, much charm, but for the passion which, turned to vehement
self-will, had made her blood acrid. Her great dark eyes burned with
quenchless resentment; her sunken and pallid face told of the
sufferings of a tortured pride.

'Lord Maximus,' were her first words, as she stood holding by the
litter, glancing distrustfully about her, 'you have sworn!'

'Hear me repeat my oath,' answered the father, strengthened by his
emotion to move forward from the couch. 'By the blessed martyr
Pancratius, I swear that no harm shall befall you, no constraint
shall be put upon you, that you shall be free to come and to go as
you will.'

It was the oath no perjurer durst make. Aurelia gazed into her
father's face, which was wet with tears. She stepped nearer to him,
took his thin, hot hand, and, as in her childhood, bent to kiss the
back of the wrist. But Maximus folded her to his heart.






CHAPTER II

BASIL'S VISION




Basil and Decius paced together a garden alley, between a row of
quince-trees and a hedge of Christ's-thorn; at one end was a
fountain in a great basin of porphyry, at the other a little temple,
very old and built for the worship of Isis, now an oratory under the
invocation of the Blessed Mary. The two young men made a singular
contrast, for Basil, who was in his twenty-third year, had all the
traits of health and vigour: a straight back, lithe limbs, a face
looking level on the world, a lustrous eye often touched to ardour,
a cheek of the purest carnation, a mouth that told of fine
instincts, delicate sensibilities, love of laughter. No less did his
costume differ from the student's huddled garb; his tunic was finely
embroidered in many hues, his silken cloak had a great buckle of
gold on the shoulder; he wore ornate shoes, and by his waist hung a
silver-handled dagger in a sheath of chased bronze. He stepped
lightly, as one who asks but the occasion to run and leap. In their
intimate talk, he threw an arm over his companion's neck, a movement
graceful as it was affectionate; his voice had a note frank and
cordial.

Yet Basil was not quite his familiar self to-day; he talked with
less than his natural gaiety, wore a musing look, fell into
silences. Now that Aurelia had come, there was no motive for reserve
on that subject with Decius, and indeed they conversed of their
kinswoman with perfect openness, pitying rather than condemning her,
and wondering what would result from her presence under one roof
with the rigid Petronilla. Not on Aurelia's account did Basil droop
his head now and then, look about him vacantly, bite his lip, answer
a question at hazard, play nervously with his dagger's hilt. All at
once, with an abruptness which moved his companion's surprise, he
made an inquiry, seemingly little relevant to their topic.

'Heard you ever of a Gothic princess--a lady of the lineage of
Theodoric--still living in Italy?'

'Never,' responded Decius, with a puzzled smile. 'Is there such a
one?'

'I am told so--I heard it by chance. Yet I know not who she can
be. Did not the direct line of Theodoric end with Athalaric and his
sister Matasuntha, who is now at the Emperor's court?'

'So I believed,' said Decius, 'though I have thought but little of
the matter.'

'I too, trust me,' let fall Basil, with careful carelessness; no
actor he. 'And the vile Theodahad--what descendants did he leave?'

'He was a scholar,' said the other musingly, 'deep read in Plato.'

'None the less a glutton and a murderer and a coward, who did well
to give his throat to the butcher as he ran away from his enemies.
Children he had, I think--but--'

Basil broke off on a wandering thought. He stood still, knitted his
brows, and sniffed the air. At this moment there appeared in the
alley a serving man, a young and active fellow of very honest
visage, who stood at some yards' distance until Basil observed him.

'What is it, Felix?' inquired his master.

The attendant stepped forward, and made known that the lord Marcian
had even now ridden up to the villa, with two followers, and desired
to wait upon Basil. This news brought a joyful light to the eyes of
the young noble; he hastened to welcome his friend, the dearest he
had. Marcian, a year or two his elder, was less favoured by nature
in face and form: tall and vigorous enough of carriage, he showed
more bone and sinew than flesh; and his face might have been that of
a man worn by much fasting, so deep sunk were the eyes, so jutting
the cheek-bones, and so sharp the chin; its cast, too, was that of a
fixed and native melancholy. But when he smiled, these features
became much more pleasing, and revealed a kindliness of temper such
as might win the love of one who knew him well. His dress was plain,
and the dust of Campanian roads lay somewhat thick upon him.

'By Bacchus!' cried his friend, as they embraced each other,
'fortune is good to me to-day. Could I have had but one wish
granted, it would have been to see Marcian. I thought you still in
Rome. What makes you travel? Not in these days solely to visit a
friend, I warrant. By Peter and Paul and as many more saints as you
can remember, I am glad to hold your hand! What news do you bring?'

'Little enough,' answered Marcian, with a shrug of the shoulders.
The natural tune of his voice harmonised with his visage, and he
spoke as one who feels a scornful impatience with the affairs of
men. 'At Rome, they wrangle about goats' wool, as is their wont.
Anything else? Why, yes; the freedman Chrysanthus glories in an
ex-consulate. It cost him the trifle of thirty pounds of gold.'

Basil laughed contemptuously, half angrily.

'We must look to our honours,' he exclaimed. 'If Chrysanthus be
ex-consul, can you and I be satisfied with less than
ex-Praetorian-Prefect? What will be the price, think you? Has Bessas
hung out a tariff yet in the Forum?'

'He knows better than to fix a maximum, as long as a wealthy fool
remains in the city--though that won't be much longer, I take it.'

'Why come you hither, dear my lord?' urged Basil, with more
seriousness.

Regarding him with a grave eye, his friend replied in an undertone:

'To spy upon you.'

'Ha!--In very truth?'

'You could wish me a more honourable office,' Marcian went on,
smiling sadly. 'Yet, if you think of it, in these days, it is some
honour to be a traitor to both sides. There has been talk of you in
Rome. Nay, who knows how or why l They have nothing to do but talk,
and these victories of the Goth have set up such a Greek cackle as
was never heard since Helen ran away to Troy,--and, talking of
Greek, I bear a letter for you from Heliodora.'

Basil, who had been listening gravely, started at this name and
uttered an idle laugh. From a wallet hanging at his girdle, Marcian
drew forth the missive.

'That may wait,' said Basil, glancing indifferently at the folded
and sealed paper before he hid it away. 'Having said so much, you
must tell me more. Put off that sardonic mask--I know very well
what hides beneath it--and look me in the eye. You have surprised
some danger?'

'I heard you spoken of--by one who seldom opens his lips but to
ill purpose. It was not difficult for me to wade through the
shallows of the man's mind, and for my friend's sake to win his base
confidence. Needing a spy, and being himself a born traitor, he
readily believed me at his beck; in truth he had long marked me, so
I found, for a cankered soul who waited but the occasion to advance
by infamy. I held the creature in my hand; I turned him over and
over, and he, the while, thinking me his greedy slave. And so,
usurping the place of some other who would have ambushed you in real
enmity, I came hither on his errand.'

'Marcian,' said the listener, 'I could make a guess at that man's
name.'

'Nay, I doubt if you could, and indeed it matters nothing. Enough
that I may do you some little service.'

'For which,' replied Basil, 'I cannot pay you, since all my love is
already yours. And she--Heliodora,' he added, with a careless
gesture, 'knows of your mission?'

'Of my mission, no; but of my proposed journey. Though indeed she
may know more than I suppose. Who shall say what reaches the ear of
Heliodora--?'

'You have not heard perhaps that her husband is dead?'

'The Prefect dead?' exclaimed Basil.

'Three weeks ago.--Rather suddenly--after supper. An
indigestion, no doubt.'

Marcian spoke with peculiar dryness, averting his eyes from the
listener. Upon Basil's face came a deep flush; he took out the
folded paper again, and held it at arm's length.

'You mean--? You think--?' he stammered.

'About women I think not at all,' said the other, 'as you well know.
There is talk, talk--what care I?'

Basil tore the letter open. It contained a lock of raven-black hair,
tied with gold thread, and on the paper was written, in Greek, 'I am
free.' Again his cheek flushed; he crushed paper and hair together
in his hand.

'Let us never again speak of her,' he exclaimed, moving away from
the spot. 'Before I left Rome, I told you that I would gladly see
her no more, and you smiled dubiously. Believe me now. I abhor the
thought of her. If she ask you for my reply, repeat those words.'

'Nay, dear my lord, in that I will beg to be excused,' replied
Marcian with his melancholy smile.

They were walking silently, side by side, when the servant Felix
again presented himself before them. Maximus, having heard of the
arrival of Marcian from Rome, requested that he and Basil would
grant him a moment of their leisure. At once the young men turned to
obey this summons. On the way, Basil communicated to his friend in a
whisper the event of the day. A couple of hours having passed since
Aurelia's coming, the Senator had in some degree recovered from his
agitation; he lay now in a room which opened upon the central court
of the villa, a room adorned with rich marbles and with
wall-paintings which were fading under the hand of time. Deathly
pale, scarce able to raise his head from the cushion of the couch,
he none the less showed a countenance bright with joyous emotion.
His quivering voice strove to welcome the visitor cheerily.

'What news from the city, dear lord Marcian? How are all our
friends? Do they begin to forget us?'

'Not so, Illustrious,' answered the young man, with head bent. 'You
are much desired in the Senate, where grave counsel is just now
greatly in demand.'

'The Senate, the Senate,' murmured Maximus, as if reminded of
something he had long forgotten. 'They must needs lack my voice, I
fear. What do men say of the Gothic king?'

Marcian threw a glance at Basil, then towards the curtained portals
of the room; lastly, his eyes turned upon the sick man, whom he
regarded steadily.

'They say much--or little,' fell from his lips.

'I understand you,' replied the Senator, with a friendly movement of
the head. 'Here we may speak freely. Does Totila draw near to Rome?'

'He is still in Tuscany, and rumours come from his army that he will
pass into Samnium. All the strongholds of Umbria are his; all the
conquests of Belisarius from Ariminum to Spoletium.'

'Where are the Roman captains?'

'Each in his city of the far north, holding the plunder he has got,
and looking for the chance of more. In Rome--'

Marcian paused significantly, and the Senator took up his words.

'In Rome rules Bessas.'

'The Thracian,' remarked Basil bitterly.

'And in Ravenna,' added the sick man, 'Alexandros--the
coin-clipper.'

The eyes of Basil and of Marcian encountered. Between them came no
shadow of distrust, the smile they exchanged told of loyal
affection.

'This Totila,' pursued Marcian, 'seems to be not only a brave and
capable commander, but a shrewd politician. Everywhere he spares the
people; he takes nothing by force; his soldiers buy at market; he
protects the farmer against the taxing Greek. As a result, his army
grows; where he passes, he leaves a good report, and before him goes
a welcome. At this rate he will soon make all Italy his own. And
unless the Patricius returns--'

By this title men were wont to speak of Belisarius. Hearing it,
Basil threw up an arm, his eyes flashing.

'The Patricius!' he exclaimed fervently. 'There is the man who might
have saved us!'

'By the holy Laurentius!' murmured Maximus, looking sadly at his
nephew, 'I have all but come to think as you do.'

'Who that knew him,' cried Basil, 'but must have seen him, in
thought--not King, for only the barbarians have kings--but
Emperor--Emperor of the West, ruling at Rome as in the days gone
by! There lives no man more royal. I have seen him day by day
commanding and taking counsel; I have talked with him in his
privacy. In the camp before Ravenna there was but one voice, one
hope, as to what should follow when the city opened its gates, and
the Goths themselves only surrendered because they thought to be
ruled by him. But for the scruple of his conscience--and should
not that have yielded to the general good?'

'Is breach of faith so light a thing?' fell from Marcian, under his
breath.

'Nay,' answered the other, with drooping head, 'but he did break
faith with _us_. We had his promise; we saw him Emperor--'

'You should have won Antonina,' said Marcian, with a return to his
sarcastic humour. 'She must have mused long and anxiously, weighing
the purple against Theodora's fury. The Patrician's fidelity stood
by his wife's prudence.'

'The one blot upon his noble nature,' uttered Basil, with a sigh.
'His one weakness. How,' he cried scornfully, 'can the conqueror of
half the world bend before such a woman?'

Fatigued already by the conversation, Maximus had lain back and
closed his eyes. Very soon the two young men received his permission
to withdraw, and, as they left the room, the physician entered.
Obedient to this counsellor the invalid gave several hours to
repose, but midway in the afternoon he again summoned his daughter,
with whom he had a long and agitating conversation. He besought
Aurelia to cast off her heretical religion, putting before her all
the perils to which she exposed herself, by abandonment of the true
faith, in this world and the next. His life was hurrying to its end;
hour by hour he felt the fever wasting what little strength remained
to him; and when he was gone who would protect her against the
enmities to which religion and avarice would expose her? Aurelia's
resistance was sullen rather than resolute; her countenance, her
words, suggested that she was thinking more of what it would cost
her pride to become a penitent than of any obstacle in conscience.
At length she declared plainly that never would she humiliate
herself before her aunt Petronilla, who had offered her no greeting
and held scornfully apart. Here, as Maximus too well knew, lay the
great difficulty of the situation; these women hated each other, and
their hate would only be exasperated by Aurelia's conversion. He
spoke of the deacon Leander, now on his way hither--begged Aurelia
to listen to the reverend man, and gave solemn assurance that, the
moment she abjured her errors, he would place her in a position of
wealth and authority far above that of Petronilla. So utterly did he
exhaust himself in entreaty and argument that he fell into a
fainting fit. The physician was called for, and Aurelia, she too
overcome with violent emotions, again retired to the part of the
villa which had been assigned to her.

The Anicii of a bygone time, who took their solace here when marbles
and mosaics, paintings and tapestries, were yet new, would have
looked with consternation on halls so crumbling and bare, chambers
so ill-appointed, as these in which the guests of the Senator
Maximus had their dwelling. Space there was in abundance, but of
comfort in the guest-rooms little enough; and despite her brother's
commands, Petronilla had seen to it that Aurelia was not luxuriously
lodged. Better accommodation awaited the deacon Leander, whose
arrival was announced an hour before sunset by a trotting courier.
His journey from Salernum had so wearied the ecclesiastic that he
could but give a hand to be kissed by his hostess, and straightway
retire into privacy; the repast that was ready for him had to be
served beside his couch, and soon after night had fallen, Leander
slumbered peacefully. Meanwhile Basil and Decius and their friend
from Rome had supped together, making what cheer they might under
the circumstances; the Surrentine wine was a little acrid, falling
short of its due age, but it sufficed to animate the talk. Presently
Decius withdrew, to study or to meditate through some hours of the
night, for he slept ill; the others, going apart to a gallery
lighted by the full moon, sat wrapped in thick, hooded cloaks, to
converse awhile before they slept. With their voices mingled the
soft splash of a fountain.

Basil was telling of his journey to Cumae, and of the difficulty he
had had in persuading Aurelia to visit her father.

'Does she live alone there?' inquired Marcian.

There was a pause before the reply, and when Basil spoke his voice
fell to a note of half-hesitating confidence.

'Alone? yes,' he said, 'in the sense that no relative abode with
her; but she had a companion--a lady--very young.' And here he
again paused, as if in some embarrassment.

'A Roman?' was Marcian's next question, carelessly thrown out for he
had little interest in Aurelia, and was half occupied with other
thoughts.

'No,' answered Basil, his voice subdued. 'A Goth; and, she says, of
the royal blood, of the line of Theodoric.'

His friend became attentive. 'A Gothic princess? Whose daughter,
then?' asked Marcian. And Basil, who desired nothing more than to
speak on this subject, little by little threw off his hesitancy,
grew rapid and eager in narration. He told how, on his first
introduction to Aurelia's presence, he had found. sitting with her a
young girl, whose aspect proclaimed her of the Gothic race. In a
second interview with his cousin, alone, Aurelia had spoken of this
companion, bestowing much praise upon her, and declaring that they
were united by an affection which nothing could diminish. She was of
Amal blood; more than that Aurelia seemed unwilling to reveal.

'Did you not learn her name?' asked the listener.

'Veranilda.'

Marcian echoed the melodious syllables, but they told him nothing.

'And did you make no inquiry of those with whom you spoke?'

'I conversed as little as might be with strangers, and purposely
held apart from our acquaintances in the town; this was my uncle's
express command.'

'You had no second sight of her?'

'Indeed I had; and talked with her moreover. Marcian, how can I
describe her to you? The words which suffice for common beauty sound
meaningless when I would use them to depict Veranilda. Shall I tell
you that she has hair of the purest gold, eyes brighter than the sky
at noon, lips like the flower of the pomegranate, a cheek so fair,
so soft--nay, you may well laugh at these idle phrases--'

'Not your phrases,' said Marcian, 'but your voice as it utters them
sets me smiling. Talk on. The chaste goddess who beams above us
inspire you with worthy terms!'

'There you speak to the point,' pursued Basil ardently. 'For
Veranilda is chaste as she is beautiful. Blessed saints! how my
heart shrank in abhorrence when I saw that letter this morning; and
how fain I would blot from my memory that baseness of the past! O
Marcian, truest of friends, I slighted your counsel, scoffed at your
warnings, but now I know how wisely and how honestly you spoke.'

'Be that as it may,' said the other. 'But is it possible that, on a
mere glimpse, this Gothic maiden should so have vanquished you?'

'It had been more prudent to hold my peace. But you know me of old.
When I am moved, I must needs unbosom myself; happy that I have one
whom I can trust. Her voice, Marcian! This whisper of the night
breeze in the laurels falls rudely upon the ear after Veranilda's
speech. Never have I heard a tone so soft, so gentle. The first word
she spoke thrilled through me, as never did voice before; and I
listened, listened, hoping she would speak again.'

'Who may she be? Has not the lady Aurelia adorned her origin? Golden
hair and blue eyes are no rarity among daughters of the Goths.'

'Had you seen her!' exclaimed Basil, and grew rapturous again.
Whilst he exhausted language in the effort to prove how remote was
Veranilda from any shape of loveliness easily presented by memory or
imagination, Marcian pondered.

'I can think of but one likelihood,' was his quiet remark, when his
friend had become silent. 'King Theodahad had a daughter, who
married the Gothic captain, Ebrimut.'

'The traitor,' murmured Basil uneasily.

'Or friend of the Romans, as you will. He delivered Rhegium to
Belisarius, and enjoys his reward at Byzantium. What if he left a
child behind him?'

Basil repulsed the suggestion vehemently.

'Not that! I had half thought of it myself; but no. Aurelia said of
the house of Theodoric.'

'Why so would be a daughter of Ebrimut, through her mother--who
was the daughter of Theodahad, who was the son of Amalafrida, who
was the sister of Theodoric himself.'

'She could not have meant that,' protested Basil. 'Child of a
mercenary traitor, who opened Italy to his people's foe! Not that!
Had you seen her, you would not believe it.'

'Oh, my good Basil,' laughed the other, 'do you think I should see
her with your eyes? But perhaps we conjecture idly quite missing the
mark. What does it matter? You have no intention, I hope, of
returning to Cumae?'

Basil opened his lips to reply, but thought better of it, and said
nothing. Then his friend turned to speak of the ecclesiastical
visitor who had that evening arrived, and, the subject not proving
very fruitful, each presently betook himself to his night's repose.





CHAPTER III

THE DEACON LEANDER




The deacon Leander was some forty years of age, stoutish, a trifle
asthmatic, with a long visage expressive of much shrewdness, and
bushy eyebrows, which lent themselves at will to a look of genial
condescension, of pious austerity, or of stern command. His dark
hair and reddish beard were carefully trimmed; so were the nails of
his shapely, delicate hands. His voice, now subject to huskiness,
had until a few years ago been remarkably powerful and melodious; no
deacon in Rome was wont to excite more admiration by his chanting of
the Gradual; but that glory had passed away, and at the present time
Leander's spiritual activity was less prominent than his services as
a most capable steward of the patrimony of St. Peter. He travelled
much, had an extensive correspondence, and was probably rather
respected than reverenced by most lay folk with whom he came in
contact.

But in the eyes of the lady Petronilla, Leander was an ideal
churchman. No one treated her judgment with so much respect; no one
confided to her curious ear so many confidential matters, ranging
from the secret scandals of aristocratic Rome to high debates of
ecclesiastical polity--or what Petronilla regarded as such. Their
closer acquaintance began with the lady's presentation of certain
columns of tawny Numidian marble, from a ruined temple she had
inherited, to the deacon's basilica, St. Laurentius; and many were
the donations which Leander had since accepted from her on behalf of
the Church. In return, he had once or twice rejoiced her with the
gift of a precious relic, such as came into the hands of few below
royal rank; thus had Petronilla obtained the filings of the chain of
St. Peter, which, enclosed in a golden key, hung upon her bosom.
Some day, as the deacon well knew, this pious virgin would beg him
to relieve her of all her earthly possessions, and enter into some
holy retreat; but she awaited the death of her brother, by whose
will she would doubtless benefit more or less substantially.

If in view of the illness of Maximus, Petronilla had regarded the
deacon's visit as providential, the event of yesterday moved her to
a more agitated thankfulness for the conference she was about to
enjoy. After a night made sleepless by dread and wrath, she rose at
daybreak and passed in a fever of impatience the time which elapsed
before her reverend guest issued from his chamber. This being the
fourth day of the week, Petronilla held rigid fast until the hour of
nones; and of course no refreshment was offered to the churchman,
who, with that smiling placidity, that graceful self-possession,
which ever distinguished him in such society, at length entered the
inner hall, and suavely, almost tenderly, greeted his noble hostess.
Brimming over as she was with anxiety and indignation, Petronilla
allowed nothing of this to appear in her reception of the revered
friend. To his inquiries touching the health of the Senator, she
replied with significant gravity that Maximus had suffered during
the night, and was this morning, by the physician's report, much
weaker; she added not a word on the momentous subject presently to
be broached. Then Leander, after viewing with many compliments a
piece of rich embroidery which occupied the lady's leisure, and or
its completion would of course be put at his disposal, took a seat,
set the tips of his fingers together, and began to chat pleasantly
of his journey. Many were the pious offerings which had fallen to
him upon his way: that of the Sicilian lady who gave her little all
to be used to maintain the lamps in the basilica of the Chief
Apostle; that of the merchant encountered on shipboard, who gave ten
pounds of gold to purchase the freedom of slaves; that of the
wealthy curial in Lucania, healed of disease by miracle on the feast
of St. Cyprian, who bestowed upon the church in gratitude many acres
of olive-bearing land, and promised an annual shipload of prime hogs
to feed St. Peter's poor. By smooth transition he passed to higher
themes: with absent eyes turned to the laurel-planted court on to
which the hall opened, he spoke as if scarcely aware of a listener,
of troubles at Rome occasioned by imprudences, indiscretions--what
should he say--of the Holy Father. As Petronilla bent forward, all
tremulous curiosity, he lowered his voice, grew frankly
confidential. The Pope had been summoned to Byzantium, to discuss
certain points of doctrine with the Emperor; his departure was
delayed, but no doubt in his weakness he would obey. Verily, the
lack of courage--not to use severer terms--so painfully evident
in Pope Vigilius, was a grave menace to the Church--the Catholic
Church, which, rightly claiming to rule Christendom, should hold no
terms with the arrogance of Justinian. Could it be wondered that the
Holy Father was disliked--not to say hated--by the people of
Rome? By his ill management the papal granaries had of late been so
ill stored that the poor had suffered famine, the Greeks having put
an end to that gratuitous distribution of food to which the Roman
populace had from of old been accustomed. On this account, chiefly,
had Leander journeyed to Sicily, to look after the supplies of corn,
and seek out those who were to blame for the recent negligence. His
bushy eyebrows gave a hint of their sterner possibilities as he
spoke of the measures he had taken, the reproofs and threats he had
distributed.

'May I live,' breathed Petronilla, with modest emphasis, 'to see a
great, a noble, a puissant Pontiff in the Apostolic Chair!'

Whereat the deacon smiled, well understanding whither the lady
looked for her ideal Pope. She went on to speak of the part Vigilius
had played in the deposition and miserable death of his predecessor
Silverius, and that, as was too well known, at the bidding of
haughty, unscrupulous women, the Empress Theodora and her friend
Antonina, wife of Belisarius. Verily, the time had come for a great
reform at the Lateran; the time had come, and perhaps the divine
instrument was not far to seek. Whereupon Petronilla murmured
ardently, and the deacon again smiled.

There was a pause. Having permitted Leander to muse a little, his
hostess turned the conversation to the troublous topic of her
thoughts; and began by saying how her brother would esteem the
privilege of counsel and solace from one so qualified to impart
them. But alas she must make known a distressful occurrence, whereby
the office of a spiritual adviser by the bedside of Maximus must
needs be complicated and made painful; and therewith Petronilla
related the events of yesterday. As he listened, the deacon knitted
his brows, but in thought rather than in affliction; and when the
speaker was silent, he still mused awhile.

'Gracious madam,' he began at length solemnly, 'you of course hold
no intercourse with this lady?'

'None! I have shrunk ever from the sight of her.'

'Such abhorrence of error witnesses to the purity and the
illumination of your soul: I could have expected nothing less from
Petronilla. You know not whether the misguided woman shows any
disposition to return to the true faith?'

'I fear not,' replied Petronilla, looking rather as if the fear were
a hope. 'Her nature is stubborn: she has the pride of the fallen
angels.'

'And her father, I am afraid, has no longer the strength to treat
her sin with due severity?'

'Earthly affection has subdued him,' replied the lady, shaking her
head. 'Who knows,' she added, 'how far his weakness may lead my poor
brother?'

She glanced about the hall, and Leander perfectly understood what
was in her mind.

'Be not over anxious,' he replied soothingly. 'Leave this in my
hands. Should it be necessary, I can dispose of some days before
pursuing my journey. Take comfort, noble and pious lady! The truth
will prevail.'

The deacon's first step was to obtain a private interview with the
physician. He then made known his desire to wait upon Maximus, and
with no great delay was admitted. Tactfully, sagaciously, he drew
the sufferer to confide in him, to see in him, not so much a
spiritual admonisher as a counsellor and a support in worldly
difficulties. Leander was already well aware that the Senator had
small religious zeal, but belonged to the class of men, numerous at
this time, who, whilst professing the Christian and the orthodox
faith, were in truth philosophers rather than devotees, and regarded
dogmatic questions with a calm not easily distinguished from
indifference. Maximus had scarcely spoken of his daughter, when the
deacon understood it was Aurelia's temporal, much more than her
eternal, interests which disturbed the peace of the dying man. Under
Roman law, bequests to a heretic were null and void; though this
enactment had for the most part been set aside in Italy under Gothic
rule, it might be that the Imperial code would henceforth prevail.
Maximus desired to bestow upon his daughter a great part of his
possessions. Petronilla, having sufficient means of her own, might
well be content with a moderate bequest; Basil, the relative next of
kin, had a worthy claim upon his uncle's generous treatment, and
Decius, who needed but little, must have that little assured. The
father had hoped that his entreaties, together with a prospect of
substantial reward, would prevail against Aurelia's pride-rooted
heresy, but as yet he pleaded and tempted in vain. Could the deacon
help him?

Leander seemed to meditate profoundly. The subject of his thought
was what seemed to him a glaring omission in this testament of
Maximus. He breathed an intimate inquiry: Was the sick man at peace
with his own soul? Had he sought strength and solace from the
reverend presbyter of Surrentum, his spiritual father in this
district? Maximus replied that he had neglected no ordinary means of
grace. Whilst speaking, he met the deacon's eye; its significance
was not to be mistaken.

'I should have mentioned,' he said, averting his look, 'that the
presbyter Andreas and his poor will not be forgotten. Moreover, many
of my slaves will receive their freedom.'

Leander murmured approvingly. Again he reflected, and again he
ventured an inquiry: Maximus would desire, no doubt, to rest with
his glorious ancestors in the mortuary chapel known as the Temple of
Probus, by St. Peter's? And seeing the emotion this excited in his
listener he went on to speak at large of the Anician house--first
among the great families of Rome to embrace Christianity, and
distinguished, generation after generation, by their support of the
church, which indeed numbered among its Supreme Pontiffs one of
their line, the third Felix. Did not the illustrious father of
Maximus lead the Christian senators in their attack upon that
lingering shame, the heathen Lupercalia, since so happily supplanted
by the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mary? He, dying--
added Leander, with an ecstatic smile--made over to the Apostolic
See an estate in Sicily which yielded every year two rich harvests
to the widows, the orphans, the sick, and the destitute of Rome.

'Deacon,' broke from the hot lips of Maximus, who struggled to raise
himself, 'if I do the like, will you swear to me to use your
influence, your power, for the protection of my daughter?'

It was the voice of nature in its struggle with the universal doom;
reason had little part in the hope with which those fading eyes
fixed themselves upon the countenance of the self-possessed
churchman.

'Heaven forbid,' was Leander's reply, 'that I should bind myself in
such terms to perform an office of friendship, which under any
circumstances would be my anxious care.'

'Even,' asked Maximus, 'if she persist in her heresy?'

'Even so, my dear lord, remembering from whom she springs. But,' he
added, in a soothing voice, 'let me put your mind at rest. Trust me,
the lady Aurelia will not long cling to her error. In poverty, in
humiliation, she might be obstinate; but as the possessor of
wealth--restored to her due rank--oh, my gracious lord, be assured
that her conversion will soon follow.'

The same thought had occurred to Maximus. He sighed in profound
relief, and regarded the deacon gratefully.

'In that hope I rest. Give me your promise to befriend her, and ask
of me what you will.'

Save for the hours she passed at her father's side, Aurelia kept a
strict retirement, guarded by the three female slaves whom
Petronilla had reluctantly assigned to her. Of them she required no
intimate service, having her own attendants, an elderly woman, the
nurse of her childhood, who through all changes of fortune had never
quitted her, and a younger, half-Goth, half-Italian, who discharged
humbler duties. She occupied a small dwelling apart from the main
structure of the villa, but connected with it by a portico: this was
called the House of Proba, it having been constructed a hundred
years ago for the lady Faltonia Proba, who wrote verses, and perhaps
on that account desired a special privacy. Though much neglected,
the building had beauty of form, and was full of fine work in
mosaic. Here, in a little peristyle, where shrubs and creepers had
come to wild growth, the sore-hearted lady sat brooding or paced
backwards and forwards, her eyes ever on the ground. When yet a
maiden she had several times spent summer at Surrentum; her memory
revived that early day which seemed so long ago; she lived again
with her brothers and sisters, all dead, with her mother whom griefs
had aged so soon. Then came a loveless marriage, which soon involved
her in the public troubles of the time; for her husband, whose
estates lay in Tuscany, was robbed of all by Theodahad, and having
vainly sought redress from the young King Athalaric, decided to
leave Italy for Byzantium, to which end Aurelia sold a property in
Campania, her dower. Before they could set forth upon their journey,
her husband caught the plague and died. In second wedlock she would
have known contentment but for the alienation of her kin and the
scornful hostility of all her class. When widowhood again befell her
she was saved from want by a small treasure of money which remained
hidden in the dwelling at Cumae when the Gothic warrior, her lord,
escaped from Belisarius. As this store diminished, Aurelia had
looked forward with dread, for she hoped nothing from her father.
And now that such fears seemed to be over, her long tortured pride
clamoured for solace. It was not enough to regain her father's love
and enjoy an inheritance; she wished to see her enemies at her feet,
and to trample upon them--her enemies being not only Petronilla
and certain other kinsfolk but all the nobility of Rome, nay, all
the orthodox of the Christian church. Pacing, pacing alone, she
brooded vast schemes of vengeance.

When it was announced to her that the Roman deacon besought an
interview, she at first refused to receive him. Thereupon Leander
sent her a few lines in writing, most ceremoniously worded, in which
he declared that his purposes were those of a disinterested friend,
that no word such as could pain or offend her would pass his lips,
and that he had it in his power to communicate something which would
greatly benefit her. Aurelia reflected disdainfully, but at length
consented to the churchman's approach. Leander's bearing as he
entered her presence was as elaborately courteous as the phrasing of
his letter.

'Noble lady,' he began, standing with bowed head, 'let not your eyes
take note of my garb. See in me only a devoted servant of your
illustrious house. His Magnificence, your father, assured of the
sincerity wherewith I place at his command such powers and
opportunities as I owe to heaven's grace, has deigned to confide in
me regarding the disposition of his worldly affairs whereto he is
prompted by languishing health.'

He paused a moment, but Aurelia had no word of reply to this
exordium. Seeing her keep the same haughty posture in her chair,
with eyes scornfully averted as if she scarce listened, Leander
proceeded to disclose his mind in less ornate terms By subtle grades
of confidential speech, beginning with a declaration of the sympathy
moved in him by the parent's love, the daughter's distress, he came
with lowering voice, with insinuating tone, with blandly tolerant
countenance, to the kernel of his discourse; it contained a
suggestion which might--he only said _might_--aid her amid the
manifold perplexities of her position. By this time Aurelia was more
attentive; the churchman almost affectionate in his suavity, grew
still more direct; and at length, in a voice which only reached the
ear of the listener, he spoke thus:

'I understand why you stepped aside from the way of truth; I
perceive the obstacles hindering your return. I know the tender
impulses which urge you to soothe your father's last hours, and, no
less, the motives, natural to a woman of your beauty, of your birth,
which are at strife with that tenderness and threaten to overcome
it. Could you discover a means of yielding to your filial affection,
and at the same time safeguarding your noble pride, would you not
gladly use it? Such a means I can point out to you.'

He became silent, watching Aurelia. She, won by the perspicacity
which read her heart, had put aside all arrogance, and wore a look
of grave intentness.

'Let me know it,' she murmured.

'It is this. Return to the true belief, but guard awhile the secret
of your conversion. That it shall not be disclosed until you wish, I
can give you firm assurance--if need be, on solemn oath. You will
privately make known to your father that he has prevailed, thereby
you put his flesh and spirit at rest,--he will die blessing you,
and enriching you to the full extent of his desire. You will then
also set your signature to a paper, which I shall write, making
confession of the orthodox faith, and undertaking to be duly
reconciled with the church, by the imposition of hands, at some
convenient season. That is all that will be asked of you for the
present. The lady Petronilla'--he all but smiled in uttering the
name--'shall not even suspect what has happened.'

'Will this villa be mine?' asked the listener after brief
reflection.

'This villa shall be yours.'

An exultant gleam shone in Aurelia's eyes.

'Deacon,' she said sternly, 'your promise is not enough. Swear to me
that no one living, save my father and you, shall know.'

From his bosom Leander drew forth a little golden cross.

'This,' he said reverently, 'contains dust of iron from the bars on
which the blessed Laurentius suffered martyrdom.'

'Swear also,' demanded Aurelia, 'by the Holy Pancratius.' In the
name of both saints Leander took his oath of secrecy. Petronilla was
of course aware that the deacon had been admitted to audience by her
niece. When he descended, she awaited him at the end of the portico,
and her look questioned him.

'Stubborn, stubborn!' murmured Leander, shaking his head, and passed
on as though in troubled thought.

Later in the day, when she had seen her father, Aurelia made known
to her cousin Basil, who had requested an interview, that he might
come. His cousin received him smilingly, almost affectionately.

Marcian having this morning taken his leave, called away by some
unexplained business to Neapolis, Basil had been on the point of
taking Decius into his amorous confidence, when this summons
rejoiced him.

'Is the letter written?' were Basil's first words.

'It is here. Can you despatch it at once?'

'I will take it myself,' he answered promptly.

Aurelia shook her head.

'You must not. My father's life is fast failing. No one can say
which hour may be his last. If he asked for you, and you were absent--'

'Felix shall go,' said Basil. 'The wind is favourable. He may have
to ride back to-morrow, but we can trust him to make all speed.'

'He took the letter, which was superscribed, 'To the most noble lady
Veranilda.'

'Dear cousin, you have spoken of me?' he asked with a wistful look.

'I have said, good cousin,' Aurelia answered pleasantly, 'that you
wished to be spoken of.'

'Only that?'

'What more should I say? Your Amiability is too hasty. Remember that
you have scarce seen her.'

'Scarce seen Veranilda!' exclaimed Basil. 'Why, it seems to me as
though I had known her for years! Have we not talked together?'

'Once. The first time does not count; you exchanged hardly a dozen
words. When,' added Aurelia, smiling, 'were you so dashed in a
maid's presence?'

'Nay, never! I am not accused of too much modesty; but when I
entered and looked on Veranilda--oh, it was the strangest moment
of my life! Noble cousin,' he added pleadingly, 'honoured Aurelia,
do but tell me what is her parentage?'

'How does that concern your Excellence? I have told you all that it
imports you to know--at all events for the present. Cousin Basil,
you delay the letter; I should wish her to have it before nightfall,
for she thinks anxiously of me.'

'I go. When may I again speak with you?'

'You shall hear when I am at leisure.'

Basil despatched his servant to Cumae not with one letter only, but
with two. Greatly daring, he had himself written to Veranilda; in
brief terms, but every word tremulous with his passion. And for half
an hour he stood watching the sail which wafted his messenger over
the gulf, ruffled to-day by a south-west wind, driver of clouds.
Little thought had he to give to the dying Maximus, but at the ninth
hour he turned his steps to the oratory, once a temple of Isis, and
heard the office, and breathed a prayer for his kindly relative.
Which duty discharged, he prayed more fervently, to whatever saint
or deity has ear for such petitions, that he might be loved by the
Gothic maid.

This evening Maximus seemed to suffer less. He lay with closed eyes,
a look of calm on his worn countenance. Beside him sat Decius,
reading in low tones from that treatise on the Consolation of
Philosophy, which Boethius wrote in prison, a hook wherein Maximus
sought comfort, this last year or two more often than in the
Evangel, or the Lives of Saints. Decius himself would have chosen a
philosopher of older time, but in the words of his own kinsman,
Maximus found an appeal more intimate, a closer sympathy, than in
ancient teaching. He loved especially the passages of verse; and
when the reader came to those lines--

'O felix hominum genus,
Si vestros animos amor
Quo coelum regitur, regat,'

he raised his hand, smiling with peculiar sweetness.

'Pause there, O Decius,' he said, in a weak but clear voice; 'let me
muse awhile.' And he murmured the verses to himself.





CHAPTER IV

TO CUMAE




The Bishop of Surrentum, an elderly man and infirm, had for the past
fortnight been unable to leave his house, but day by day he received
news of what passed at the villa of Maximus, and held with the
presbyter, Andreas, many colloquies on that weighty topic, the
senator's testament. As it happened, neither bishop nor presbyter
had much aptitude for worldly affairs; they were honest,
simple-minded clerics, occupied with visions and marvels and the
saving details of dogma; exultant whenever a piece of good fortune
befell their church, but modest in urging a claim at the bedside of
the sick. Being the son of a freedman who had served in the Anician
house, the bishop could not approach Maximus without excessive
reverence; before Petronilla he was even more unduly awed.

On Sunday morning the good prelate lay wakeful at the hour of
matins, and with quavering voice chanted to himself the psalm of the
office from which his weakness held him apart. Presently the door
opened, and in the dim lamp-light appeared the presbyter Andreas,
stepping softly. He made known that an urgent message had just
summoned him to the villa; Maximus was near his end.

'I, too, will come,' exclaimed the bishop, rising in his bed and
ringing loudly a little hand-bell.

'Venerable father! your health--'

'Hasten, hasten, Andreas! I follow.'

In less than an hour he descended from his litter, and, resting on
the arms of two servants, was conducted to the chamber of the dying
man. Andreas had just administered the last rites; whether the fixed
eyes still saw was doubtful. At a murmur of 'the bishop' those by
the doorway reverently drew aside. On one side of the bed were
Aurelia and the deacon; on the other, Petronilla and Basil and
Decius. Though kneeling, the senator's daughter held herself
proudly. Though tears were on her face, she hardly disguised an air
of triumph. Nor was the head of Petronilla bent; her countenance
looked hard and cold as marble. Leander, a model of decorum, stepped
with grave greeting towards the prelate, and whispered a word or
two. In the stillness that followed there quivered a deep breath.
Flavius Anicius Maximus had lived his life.

When the bishop, supported by Leander and Andreas, rose from prayer,
he was led by the obsequious clerics to a hall illumined by several
lamps, where two brasiers gave forth a grateful glow in the chill of
the autumn morning. Round about the walls, in niches, stood busts
carved or cast of the ancestors of him who lay dead. Here, whilst
voices of lamentation sounded from without, Leander made known to
the prelate and the presbyter the terms of the will. Basil was
instituted 'heir'; that is to say, he became the legal
representative of the dead man, and was charged with the
distribution of those parts of the estate bequeathed to others.
First of the legatees stood Aurelia. The listeners learnt with
astonishment that the obstinate heretic was treated as though her
father had had no cause of complaint against her; she was now
mistress of the Surrentine estate, as well as of the great house in
Rome, and of other property. A lamentable thing, the deacon admitted
suavely; but, for his part, he was not without hope, and he fixed
his eyes with a peculiar intensity on the troubled bishop.

Petronilla drew near. The will was already known to her in every
detail, and she harboured a keen suspicion of the secret which lay
behind it. Leander, she could not doubt, was behaving to her with
duplicity, and this grieved her to the heart. It was to the bishop
that she now addressed herself.

'Holy father, I am your suppliant. Not even for a day will I remain
under this roof, even if--which is doubtful--I should be
suffered to do so. I put myself under the protection of your
Holiness, until such time as I can set forth on my sad journey to
Rome. At Surrentum I must abide until the corpse of my brother can
be conveyed to its final resting place--as I promised him.'

Much agitated, the prelate made answer that a fitting residence
should be prepared for her before noon, and the presbyter Andreas
added that he would instantly betake himself to the city on that
business. Petronilla thanked him with the loftiest humility. For any
lack of respect, or for common courtesy, to which they might be
exposed ere they quitted the villa, she besought their Sanctities
not to hold her responsible, she herself being now an unwilling
intruder at this hearth, and liable at any moment to insult.
Uttering which words in a resonant voice, she turned her eyes to
where, a few yards away, stood Aurelia, with Basil and Decius behind
her.

'Reverend bishop,' spoke a voice not less steady and sonorous than
that of the elder lady, 'should you suffer any discourtesy in my
house, it will come not from me, but from her who suggests its
possibility, and whose mind is bent upon such things. Indeed, she
has already scanted the respect she owes you in uttering these
words. As for herself, remain she here for an hour or for a month,
she is in no danger of insult--unless she deem it an insult to
have her base falsehood flung back at her, and the enmity in her
fierce eyes answered with the scorn it merits.'

Petronilla trembled with wrath.

'Falsehood!' she echoed, on a high, mocking note. 'A charge of
falsehood upon _her_ lips! Your Holiness will ere long, I do not
doubt, be enlightened as to that woman's principles in the matter of
truth and falsehood. Meanwhile, we shall consult our souls' welfare,
as well as our dignity, in holding as little intercourse as may be
with one who has renounced the faith in Christ.'

Aurelia bent her eyes upon the deacon, who met the look with austere
fixedness. There was dead silence for a moment, then she turned to
the young men behind her.

'My noble cousins, I desired your company because I foresaw this
woman's violence, and knew not to what length it might carry her.
She pretends to fear my tongue; for my part, I would not lightly
trust myself within reach of her hands, of which I learnt the weight
when I was a little child. Lord Decius, attend, I beg you, these
reverend men whilst they honour my house and on their way homeward.
My cousin Basil, I must needs ask you to be my guard, until I can
command service here. Follow me, I pray.'

With another piercing glance at Leander she withdrew from the
assembly.

It was a morning of wind and cloud; the day broke sadly. When the
first gleam of yellow sunlight flitted over Surrentum towards the
cliffs of Capreae, silence had fallen upon the villa. Wearied by
their night of watching, the inhabitants slept, or at least reposed
in privacy. But this quiet was of short duration. When the customary
bell had given notice of the third hour, Aurelia called together the
servants of the house--only those who belonged to Petronilla
failing to answer her summons--and announced to them her new
authority. At the same time the steward of the estate read out a
list of those slaves who, under the will of Maximus, could claim
their emancipation. The gathering having dispersed, there appeared
an attendant of the deacon Leander; his reverend master would wait
upon the lady Aurelia, as soon as her leisure permitted, for the
purpose of taking leave. Forthwith the deacon was admitted. Alone in
the great hall, Aurelia sat beside a brasier, at which she warmed
her hands; she scarcely deigned to glance at the ecclesiastic.

'You pursue your journey, reverend?' were her first words.

'As far as Neapolis, gracious lady,' came the suave reply. 'There or
in the neighbourhood I shall remain at least ten days. Should you
desire to communicate with me--'

'I think I can save that trouble,' interrupted Aurelia, with
quivering lips. 'All I have to say to your Sanctity, I will say at
once. It is, that you have enlightened me as to the value of solemn
oaths on the lips of the Roman clergy.'

'Your meaning, dear madam?' asked Leander, with a look of bland
disdain.

'You have the face to ask it, deacon, after Petronilla's words this
morning?'

'I feared they might mislead you. The lady Petronilla knows nothing
of what has passed between us. She spoke in anger, and hazarded an
accusation--as angry ladies are wont.'

'Of course you say so,' returned Aurelia. 'I will believe you if you
give me back the paper I signed, and trust to my word for the
fulfilment of what I promised.'

Leander smiled, almost as if he had heard some happy intelligence.

'You ask,' he said, 'for a trust you yourself refuse.'

'Then go your way, perjurer!' exclaimed Aurelia, her cheeks aflame
with passion. 'I know henceforth on whom to rely.'

For a moment Leander stood as if reflecting on these last words;
then he bowed, and with placid dignity retired.

Meanwhile Basil and Decius were conversing with Petronilla. Neither
of them had ever stood on terms of more than courteous forbearance
with this authoritative lady; at present they maintained their usual
demeanour, and did not think it needful to apologise for friendly
relations with Aurelia. The only subject on which Petronilla deigned
to hold colloquy with them was that of her brother's burial at Rome.
Should the transport be by land or by sea? This evening the corpse
would be conveyed to the cathedral of Surrentum, where due rites
would be performed early on the morrow; there it would remain in
temporary interment until a coffin of lead could be prepared, and
arrangements completed for the removal. Was the year too advanced,
questioned Petronilla, to allow of the sea voyage? On the other
hand, would the land journey be safe, having regard to the advance
of the Gothic army? Basil pronounced for the sea, and undertook to
seek for a vessel. Was he willing, asked Petronilla, to accompany
the body to Rome? This question gave Basil pause; he reflected
uneasily; he hesitated. Yet who could discharge this duty, if he did
not? Suddenly ashamed of his hesitation, the true reason of which
could not be avowed, he declared that he would make the voyage.

Hereupon entered the deacon, who, the matter being put before him,
approved these arrangements. He himself would doubtless be in Rome
before the arrival of the remains of Maximus, and all the details of
the burial there might be left to him. So Petronilla thanked and
dismissed the young men, on whose retirement she turned eagerly to
Leander.

'Forgive me!' broke from her lips. 'I know how deeply I have
offended your Sanctity. It was my fear that you would go away
without a word. My haste, my vehemence, merited even that
punishment.'

'Calm yourself, noble lady,' returned the deacon. 'I was indeed
grieved, but I know your provocation. We may speak on this subject
again; but not here. For the present, I take my leave of you, all
being ready for my departure. As you are quitting this house at
once, you need no counsel as to immediate difficulties; I will only
say, in all things be prudent, be self-controlled; before long, you
may see reason for the discreet silence which I urge upon you.'

'When do you set forth to Rome?' asked Petronilla. 'If it might be
my privilege to journey in your company--?'

'The day is uncertain,' replied Leander; 'but if it be possible for
us to travel together, trust me to beg for the honour. You shall
hear of my projects in a week's time from Neapolis.'

Petronilla fell to her knees, and again besought his forgiveness
with his benediction. The deacon magnanimously granted both, and
whilst bending over the devout lady, whispered one word:

'Patience!'

An hour after mid-day, Petronilla quitted the villa. Her great
travelling chariot, drawn by four mules, wherein she and her most
precious possessions were conveyed, descended at a stately pace the
winding road to Surrentum. Before it rode Basil; behind came a laden
wagon, two light vehicles carrying female slaves, and mounted
men-servants, armed as though for a long and perilous journey. Since
the encounter before sunrise, there had been no meeting between the
hostile ladies. Aurelia signified her scorn by paying no heed to her
aunt's departure.

Alone in her dominion, the inheritress entered the death-chamber,
and there passed an hour upon her knees. Whilst she was thus
secluded, a pealing storm traversed the sky. When Aurelia came forth
again, her face was wan, tearstained. She summoned her nurse, and
held much talk with her as to the significance of thunder whilst a
corpse lay in the house. The good woman, though she durst not utter
all her thoughts, babbled concern, and used the occasion to beseech
Aurelia--as she had often done since the death of her Gothic lord--to
be reconciled with the true church.

'True church!' exclaimed Aurelia, with sudden passion. 'How do you
know which is the true church? Have not emperors, have not bishops
and numberless holy men lived and died in the faith I confess--?'

She checked herself; grew silent, brooded. Meanwhile, the old nurse
talked on, and presently began to relate how a handmaid of
Petronilla, in going with her this morning, professed to know on the
surest evidence that Aurelia, by her father's deathbed, had
renounced Arianism. The sullen countenance of her mistress flashed
again into wrath.

'Did I not forbid you,' cried Aurelia, 'to converse with those
women? And you dare repeat to me their loose-lipped chatter. I am
too familiar with you; go and talk with your kind; go!'

Mutteringly the woman went apart. The mistress, alone, fell into a
long weeping. When she had sobbed herself into quiet once more, she
sought a volume of the Gospels, inserted her forefinger between the
pages at random, and anxiously regarded the passage thus chosen.

'While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the
children of light.'

She brooded, but in the end seemed to find solace.

Basil was absent all day. On his return, just before sunset, Aurelia
met him in the atrium, heard the report of what he had done, and at
length asked whether, on the day after to-morrow, he could go to
Cumae.

'To Cumae?' exclaimed Basil. 'Ay, that I can! You are returning
thither?'

'For a day only. I go to seek that which no one but myself can
find.'

The listener had no difficulty in understanding this; it meant, of
course, treasure concealed in the house Aurelia had long inhabited.

'We must both go and return by sea,' said Aurelia, 'even though it
cause us delay. I have no mind to pass through Neapolis.'

'Be it so. The sky will be calm when this storm has passed Shall you
return,' said Basil, 'alone?'

'Alone? Do you purpose to forsake me?'

'Think better of my manners, cousin--and more shrewdly of my
meaning.'

'You mean fairly, I trust?' she returned, looking him steadily in
the face.

'Nay,' cried the young man vehemently, 'if I have any thought other
than honest, may I perish before I ever again behold her!'

Aurelia's gaze softened.

'It is well,' she said; 'we will speak again to-morrow.'

That night Petronilla kept vigil in the church of Surrentum, Basil
and Decius relieving her an hour before dawn. At the funeral
service, which began soon after sunrise, the greater part of the
townsfolk attended. All were eager to see whether the daughter of
Maximus would be present, for many rumours were rife touching
Aurelia, some declaring that she had returned to the true faith,
some that she remained obstinate in heresy. Her failure to appear
did not set the debate at rest. A servant of Petronilla whispered it
about that only by a false pretence of conversion had Aurelia made
sure her inheritance; and at the mere thought of such wickedness the
hearers shuddered, foretelling a dread retribution. The clergy were
mute on the subject, even with the most favoured of their flock.
Meanwhile the piety and austerity of Petronilla made a safe topic of
talk, and a long procession reverently escorted her to her temporary
abode near the bishop's house.

To-day the clouds spent themselves in rain; before nightfall the
heavens began to clear. The island peak of Inarime stood purple
against a crimson sunset. After supper, Aurelia and Basil held
conference. The wind would not be favourable for their voyage; none
the less, they decided to start at the earliest possible hour. Dawn
was but just streaking the sky, when they rode down the dark gorge
which led to the shore, Basil attended by Felix, the lady by one
maid. The bark awaited them, swaying gently against the
harbour-side. Aurelia descended to the little cabin curtained off
below a half-deck, and--sails as yet being useless--four great
oars urged the craft on its way.

What little wind there was breathed from the north For an hour they
made but slow progress, but when the first rays of sun gleamed above
the mountains, the breeze shifted westward; sails were presently
hoisted, and the rippling water hissed before the prow. Soon a
golden day shone upon sea and land. Aurelia came forth on to the
deck, and sat gazing towards Neapolis.

'You know that the deacon is yonder,' she said in a low voice to
Basil, this the first mention of Leander that had fallen from her
lips in speaking with him.

'Is he?' returned the other carelessly. 'Yes, I remember.'

But Basil's eyes were turned to the long promontory of Misenum. He
was wondering anxiously how his letter had affected Veranilda, and
whether, when she heard of it, Aurelia would be angered.

'Where is your friend Marcian?' were her next words.

Basil replied that he, too, was sojourning at Neapolis; and, when
Aurelia inquired what business held him there, her cousin answered
truly that he did not know.

'Do you trust him?' asked the lady, after a thoughtful pause.

'Marcian? As I trust myself!'

One of the boatmen coming within earshot, their conversation ceased.

The hour before noon saw them drawing near to land. They left on the
right the little island of Nesis, and drew towards Puteoli. On the
left lay Baiae, all but forsaken, its ancient temples and villas
stretching along the shore from the Lucrine lake to the harbour
shadowed by Cape Misenum; desolate magnificence, marble overgrown
with ivy, gardens where the rose grew wild, and terraces crumbling
into the sea. Basil and Aurelia looked upon these things with an eye
made careless by familiarity; all their lives ruin had lain about
them, deserted sanctuaries of a bygone creed, unpeopled homes of a
vanished greatness.

As the boat advanced into the bay, it lost the wind, and rowing
again became needful. Thus they entered the harbour of Puteoli,
where the travellers disembarked.

Hard by the port was a tavern, which, owing to its position midway
between Neapolis and Cumae, still retained something of its
character as a _mansio_ of the posting service; but the vehicles and
quadrupeds of which it boasted were no longer held in strict reserve
for state officials and persons privileged. Gladly the innkeeper put
at Basil's disposal his one covered carriage, a trifle cleaner
inside than it was without, and a couple of saddle horses, declared
to be Sicilian, but advanced in age. Thus, with slight delay, the
party pursued their journey, Basil and his man riding before the
carriage. The road ran coastwise as far as the Julian haven, once
thronged with the shipping of the Roman world, now all but abandoned
to a few fishermen; there it turned inland, skirted the Lucrine
water, and presently reached the shore of Lake Avernus, where was
the entrance to the long tunnel piercing the hill between the lake
and Cumae. On an ill-kept way, under a low vault of rock dripping
moisture, the carriage with difficulty tossed and rumbled through
the gloom. Basil impatiently trotted on, and, as he issued into
sunlight, there before him stood the walls of the ancient city,
round about that little hill by the sea which, in an age remote, had
been chosen for their abode by the first Hellenes tempted to the
land of Italy. High above rose the acropolis, a frowning stronghold.
Through Basil's mind passed the thought that ere long Cumae might
again belong to the Goths, and this caused him no uneasiness; half,
perchance, he hoped it.

A guard at the city gate inspected the carriage, and let it pass on.
In a few minutes, guided by Basil, it drew up before a house in a
narrow, climbing street, a small house, brick fronted, with stucco
pilasters painted red at the door, and two windows, closed with
wooden shutters, in the upper storey. On one side of the entrance
stood a shop for the sale of earthenware; on the other, a vintner's
with a projecting marble table, the jars of wine thereon exhibited
being attached by chains to rings in the wall. Odours of cookery,
and of worse things, oppressed the air, and down the street ran a
noisome gutter. When Basil's servant had knocked, a little wicket
slipped aside for observation; then, after a grinding of heavy locks
and bars, the double doors were opened, and a grey-headed slave
stepped forward to receive his mistress. Basil had jumped down from
his horse, and would fain have entered, but, by an arrangement
already made, this was forbidden. Saying that she would expect him
at the second hour on the morrow, Aurelia disappeared. Her cousin
after a longing look at the blind and mute house, rode away to
another quarter of the city, near the harbour, where was an inn at
which he had lodged during his previous visit. In a poor and dirty
room, he made shift to dine on such food as could be offered him;
then lay down on the truckle bed, and slept for an hour or two.

A knock at the door awoke him. It was Felix, who brought the news
that Marcian was at Cumae.

'You have seen him?' cried Basil, astonished and eager.

'His servant Sagaris,' Felix replied. 'I met him but now in the
forum, and learnt that his lord lodges at the house of the curial
Venustus; hard by the Temple of Diana.'

'Go thither at once, and beg him, if his leisure serve, to come to
me. I would go myself; but, if he have seen Sagaris, he may be
already on the way here.'

And so it proved, for in a very few minutes Marcian himself entered
the room.

'Your uncle is dead,' were his first words. 'I heard it in Neapolis
yesterday. What brings you here?'

'Nay, best Marcian,' returned the other, with hands on his friend's
shoulders, and peering him in the face, 'let me once again put that
question to _you_.'

'I cannot answer it, yet,' said Marcian gravely. 'Your business is
more easily guessed.'

'But must not be talked of here,' interrupted Basil, glancing at the
door. 'Let us find some more suitable place.'

They descended the dark, foul stairs, and went out together. Before
the house stood the two serving-men, who, as their masters walked
away, followed at a respectful distance. When safe from being
overheard, Basil recounted to his friend the course of events at the
Surrentine villa since Marcian's departure, made known his suspicion
that Aurelia had secretly returned to the Catholic faith. He then
told of to day's journey and its purpose, his hearer wearing a look
of grave attention.

'Can it be,' asked Marcian, 'that you think of wedding this Gothic
beauty?'

'Assuredly,' answered Basil, with a laugh, 'I have thought of it.'

'And it looks as though Aurelia favoured your desire.'

'It has indeed something of that appearance.'

'Pray you now, dear lord,' said Marcian, 'be sober awhile. Have you
reflected that, with such a wife, you would not dare return to
Rome?'

Basil had not regarded that aspect of the matter, but his friend's
reasoning soon brought him to perceive the danger he would lightly
have incurred. Dangers, not merely those that resulted from the war;
could he suppose, asked Marcian, that Heliodora would meekly endure
his disdain, and that the life of Veranilda would be safe in such a
rival's proximity? Hereat, Basil gnashed his teeth and handled his
dagger. Why return to Rome at all? he cried impatiently. He had no
mind to go through the torments of a long siege such as again
threatened. Why should he not live on in Campania--

'And tend your sheep or your goats?' interrupted Marcian, with his
familiar note of sad irony. 'And pipe _sub tegmine fagi_ to your
blue-eyed Amaryllis? Why not, indeed? But what if; on learning the
death of Maximus, the Thracian who rules yonder see fit to command
your instant return, and to exact from you an account of what you
have inherited? Bessas loses no time--suspecting--perhaps--
that his tenure of a fruitful office may not be long.'

'And if the suspicion be just?' said Basil, gazing hard at his
friend.

'Well, if it be?' said the other, returning the look.

'Should we not do well to hold far from Rome, looking to King
Totila, whom men praise, as a deliverer of our land from hateful
tyranny?'

Marcian laid a hand on his friend's shoulder.

'O, brave Basil!' he murmured, with a smile. 'O, nobly confident in
those you love! Never did man so merit love in return.--Do as you
will. In a few days I shall again visit you at Surrentum, and
perchance bring news that may give us matter for talk.'

From a portico hard by there approached a beggar, a filthy and
hideous cripple, who, with whining prayer, besought alms. Marcian
from his wallet took a copper coin, and, having glanced at it, drew
Basil's attention.

'Look,' said he, smiling oddly, 'at the image and the
superscription.'

It was a coin of Vitiges, showing a helmeted bust of the goddess of
the city, with legend '_Invicta Roma_.'

'_Invicta Roma_,' muttered Basil sadly, with head bent.

Meanwhile, out of earshot of their masters, the two servants
conversed with not less intimacy. At a glance these men were seen to
be of different races. Felix, aged some five and thirty, could boast
of free birth; he was the son of a curial--that is to say,
municipal councillor--of Arpinum, who had been brought to ruin,
like so many of his class in this age, by fiscal burdens, the
curiales being responsible for the taxes payable by their
colleagues, as well as for the dues on any estate in their district
which might be abandoned, and, in brief, for whatsoever deficiencies
of local revenue. Gravity and sincerity appeared in his countenance;
he seldom smiled, spoke in a subdued voice, and often kept his eyes
on the ground; but his service was performed with rare
conscientiousness, and he had often given proof of affection for his
master. Sagaris, a Syrian slave, less than thirty years old, had a
comely visage which ever seemed to shine with contentment, and often
twinkled with a sort of roguish mirth. Tall and of graceful bearing,
the man's every movement betrayed personal vanity; his speech had
the note of facile obsequiousness; he talked whenever occasion
offered, and was fond of airing his views on political and other
high matters. Therewithal, he was the most superstitious of mortals;
wore amulets, phylacteries, charms of all sorts, and secretly prayed
to many strange gods. When he had nothing else to do, and could find
a genial companion, his delight was to play by the hour at _micare
digitis_; but, in spite of his master's good opinion, not to Sagaris
would have applied the proverb that you might play that game with
him in the dark.

'Take my word for it,' he whispered to Felix, with his most
important air, 'we shall see strange things ere long. Last night I
counted seven shooting stars.'

'What does that argue?' asked the other soberly.

'More than I care to put into Latin. At Capua, three days ago, a
woman gave birth to a serpent, a winged dragon, which flew away
towards Rome. I talked at Neapolis with a man who saw it.'

'Strange, indeed,' murmured Felix, with raised eyebrows. 'I have
often heard of such portents, but never had the luck to behold one
of them. Yet,' he added gravely, 'I have received a sign. When my
father died, I was far away from him, and at that very hour, as I
prayed in the church of Holy Clement at Rome, I heard a voice that
said in my ear, _Vale_! three times.'

'Oh, I have had signs far more wonderful than that,' exclaimed the
Syrian. 'I was at sea, between Alexandria and Berytus--for you
must know that in my boyhood I passed three years at Berytus, and
there obtained that knowledge of law which you may have remarked in
talking with me--well, I was at sea--'

'Peace!' interposed Felix. 'We are summoned.'

Sagaris sighed, and became the obsequious attendant.





CHAPTER V

BASIL AND VERANILDA




At the appointed hour next morning, when yet no ray of sunshine had
touched the gloomy little street, though a limpid sky shone over it,
Basil stood at Aurelia's door. The grey-headed porter silently
admitted him, and he passed by a narrow corridor into a hall lighted
as usual from above, paved with red tiles, here and there trodden
away, the walls coloured a dusky yellow, and showing an imaginary
line of pillars painted in blue. A tripod table, a couch, and a few
chairs were the only furniture. When the visitor had waited for a
few moments a curtain concealing the entrance to the inner part of
the house moved aside, and Aurelia's voice bade her cousin come
forward. He entered a smaller room opening upon a diminutive court
where a few shrubs grew; around the walls hung old and faded
tapestry; the floor was of crude mosaic; the furniture resembled
that of the atrium, with the addition of a brasier.

'I have been anxious for your coming,' were Aurelia's first words.
'Do you think they will let us depart without hindrance? Yesterday I
saw the owner of this house to transact my business with him. It is
Venustus, a curial, a man who has always been well disposed to me.
He said that he must perforce make known to the governor my
intention of leaving the city, and hoped no obstacle would be put in
our way. This morning, before sunrise, a messenger from the citadel
came and put questions to the porter.'

Basil knitted his brows.

'Venustus? It is with Venustus that Marcian lodges. Yes, Marcian is
here; I know not on what business. It would have been wiser,' he
added, 'to have said nothing, to have gone away as before. When
shall you be ready?'

'I am ready now. Why delay? What matter though we reach Surrentum by
night? The moon rises early.'

'What reply was given to the messenger from the citadel?'

'He learned, perforce, that we were preparing for a journey.'

A moment's reflection and Basil decided to risk immediate departure;
delay and uncertainty were at all times hateful to him, and at the
present juncture intolerable. At once he quitted the house (not
having ventured to speak the name of Veranilda), and in an hour's
time the covered carriage from Puteoli, and another vehicle, were in
waiting. The baggage was brought out; then, as Basil stood in the
hall, he saw Aurelia come forward, accompanied by a slight female
figure, whose grace could not be disguised by the long hooded cloak
which wrapped it from head to foot, allowing not a glimpse of face.
The young man trembled, and followed. He saw the ladies step into
the carriage, and was himself about to mount his horse, when a
military officer, attended by three soldiers, stepped towards him,
and, without phrase of courtesy, demanded his name. Pallid, shaken
with all manner of emotions, Basil replied to this and several other
inquiries, the result being that the two vehicles were ordered to be
driven to the citadel, and he to go thither under guard.

At the entrance to the citadel the carriage drew up and remained
there under guard. Basil was led in, and presently stood before the
military governor of Cumae; this was a Hun named Chorsoman, formerly
one of Belisarius's bodyguard. He spoke Latin barbarously; none the
less was his language direct and perspicuous. The Roman lady wished
to quit Cumae, where she had lived for some years; she purposed,
moreover, to take away with her a maiden of Gothic race, who, though
not treated as a captive, had been under observation since she was
sent to dwell here by Belisarius. This could not pass as a matter of
small moment. Plainly, permission to depart must be sought of the
authorities, and such permission, under the circumstances, could
only be granted in return for substantial payment--a payment in
proportion t6 the lady's rank. It was known that the senator Maximus
had died, and report said that his daughter inherited great wealth.
The price of her passport would be one thousand gold pieces.

Basil knew that Aurelia had not, in the coffer she was taking away,
a quarter of this sum of money. He foresaw endless delay, infinite
peril to his hopes. Schooling a hot tongue to submissive utterance,
he asked that Aurelia might be consulted.

'Speak with her yourself,' said the Hun, 'and bring her answer.'

So Basil went forth, and, under the eyes of the guard, held converse
with his cousin. Aurelia was willing to give all the treasure she
carried with her--money, a few ornaments of gold and silver, two
or three vessels of precious metal--everything for immediate
liberty; all together she thought it might be the equivalent of half
the sum demanded. The rest she would swear to pay. This being
reported to Chorsoman, his hideous, ashen-grey countenance assumed a
fierce expression; he commanded that all the baggage on the vehicles
should be brought and opened before him; this was done. Whilst
Basil, boiling with secret rage, saw his cousin's possessions turned
out on to the floor a thought flashed into his mind.

'I ought to inform your Sublimity,' he said, with all the
indifference he could assume, 'that the lady Aurelia despatched two
days ago a courier to Rome apprising the noble commandant Bessas of
her father's death, and of her intention to arrive in the city as
soon as possible, and to put her means at his disposal for the
defence of Rome against King Totila.'

Chorsoman stared.

'Is not this lady the widow of a Goth and a heretic?'

'The widow of a Goth, yes, but no longer a heretic,' answered Basil
boldly, half believing what he said.

He saw that he had spoken to some purpose. The Hun blinked his
little eyes, gazed greedily at the money, and was about to speak
when a soldier announced that a Roman named Marcian desired
immediate audience, therewith handing to the governor a piece of
metal which looked like a large coin. Chorsoman had no sooner
glanced at this than he bade admit the Roman; but immediately
changing his mind, he went out into another room. On his return,
after a quarter of an hour, he gruffly announced that the travellers
were free to depart.

'We humbly thank your Clemency,' said Basil, his heart leaping in
joy. 'Does your Greatness permit me to order these trifles to be
removed?'

'Except the money,' replied Chorsoman, growling next moment, 'and
the vessels'; then snarling with a savage glance about him, 'and the
jewels.'

Not till the gates of Cumae were behind them, and they had entered
the cavern in the hill, did Basil venture to recount what had
happened. He alighted from his horse, and walking through the gloom
beside the carriage he briefly narrated all in a whisper to
Aurelia--all except his own ingenious device for balking the Hun's
cupidity. What means Marcian had employed for their release he could
but vaguely conjecture; that would be learned a few days hence when
his friend came again to Surrentum. Aurelia's companion in the
carriage, still hooded and cloaked, neither moved nor uttered a
word.

At a distance of some twenty yards from the end of the tunnel,
Felix, riding in advance, checked his horse and shouted. There on
the ground lay a dead man, a countryman, who it was easy to see had
been stabbed to death, and perhaps not more than an hour ago.
Quarrel or robbery, who could say? An incident not so uncommon as
greatly to perturb the travellers; they passed on and came to
Puteoli. Here the waiting boatmen were soon found; the party
embarked; the vessel oared away in a dead calm.

The long voyage was tedious to Basil only because Veranilda remained
unseen in the cabin; the thought of bearing her off; as though she
were already his own, was an exultation, a rapture. When he
reflected on the indignities he had suffered in the citadel rage
burned his throat, and Aurelia, all bitterness at the loss of her
treasure, found words to increase this wrath. A Hun! A Scythian
savage! A descendant perchance of the fearful Attila! He to
represent the Roman Empire! Fit instrument, forsooth, of such an
Emperor as Justinian, whose boundless avarice, whose shameful
subjection to the base-born Theodora, were known to every one. To
this had Rome fallen; and not one of her sons who dared to rise
against so foul a servitude!

'Have patience, cousin,' Basil whispered, bidding her with a glance
beware of the nearest boatman. 'There are some who will not grieve
if Totila--'

'No more than that? To stand, and look on, and play the courtier to
whichever may triumph!'

Basil muttered with himself. He wished he had been bred a soldier
instead of growing to manhood in an age when the nobles of Rome were
held to inglorious peace, their sole career that of the jurist And
Aurelia, brooding, saw him involved beyond recall in her schemes of
vengeance.

The purple evening fell about them, an afterglow of sunset trembling
upon the violet sea. Above the heights of Capreae a star began to
glimmer; and lo, yonder from behind the mountains rose the great orb
of the moon. They were in the harbour at last, but had to wait on
board until a messenger could go to the village and a conveyance
arrive. The litter came, with a horse for Basil; Felix, together
with Aurelia's grey-headed porter and a female slave--these two
the only servants that had remained in the house at Cumae--
followed on foot, and the baggage was carried up on men's shoulders.

'Decius!' cried Basil, in a passionate undertone, when he
encountered his kinsman in the vestibule. 'Decius! we are here--
and one with us whom you know not. Hush! Stifle your curiosity till
to-morrow. Let them pass.'

So had the day gone by, and not once had he looked upon the face of
Veranilda.

He saw her early on the morrow. Aurelia, though the whole villa was
now at her command, chose still to inhabit the house of Proba; and
thither, when the day was yet young, she summoned Basil. The room in
which she sat was hung with pictured tapestry, representing Christ
and the Apostles; crude work, but such as had pleased Faltonia
Proba, whose pious muse inspired her to utter the Gospel in a
Virgilian canto. And at Aurelia's side, bending over a piece of
delicate needlework, sat the Gothic maiden, clad in white, her
flaxen hair, loosely held with silk, falling behind her shoulders,
shadowing her forehead, and half hiding the little ears. At Basil's
entrance she did not look up; at the first sound of his voice she
bent her head yet lower, and only when he directly addressed her,
asking, with all the gentleness his lips could command, whether the
journey had left much fatigue, did she show for a moment her watchet
eyes, answering few words with rare sweetness.

'Be seated, dear my lord,' said his cousin, in the soft, womanly
voice once her habitual utterance. 'There has been so little
opportunity of free conversation, that we have almost, one might
say, to make each other's acquaintance yet. But I hope we may now
enjoy a little leisure, and live as becomes good kinsfolk.'

Basil made such suitable answer as his agitation allowed.

'And the noble Decius,' pursued Aurelia, 'will, I trust, bestow at
times a little of his leisure upon us. Perhaps this afternoon you
could persuade him to forget his books for half an hour? But let us
speak, to begin with, of sad things which must needs occupy us. Is
it possible, yet, to know when the ship will sail for Rome?'

Aurelia meant, of course, the vessel which would convey her father's
corpse, and the words cast gloom upon Basil, who had all but
forgotten the duty that lay before him. He answered that a week at
least must pass before the sailing, and, as he spoke, kept his eyes
upon Veranilda, whose countenance--or so it seemed to him--had
become graver, perhaps a little sad.

'Is it your purpose to stay long in Rome?' was Aurelia's next
question, toned with rather excessive simplicity.

'To stay long?' exclaimed Basil. 'How can you think it? Perchance I
shall not even enter the city. At Portus, I may resign my duty into
other hands, and so straightway return.'

There was a conflict in Aurelia's mind. Reverence for her father
approved the thought of his remains being transported under the
guardianship of Basil; none the less did she dread this journey, and
feel tempted to hinder it. She rose from her chair.

'Let us walk into the sunshine,' she said. 'The morning is chilly.'
And, as she passed out into the court, hand in hand with Veranilda,
'O, the pleasure of these large spaces, this free air, after the
straight house at Cumae! Do you not breathe more lightly, sweetest?
Come into Proba's garden, and I will show you where I sat with my
broidery when I was no older than you.'

The garden was approached by a vaulted passage. A garden long
reconquered by nature; for the paths were lost in herbage, the seats
were overgrown with creeping plants, and the fountain had crumbled
into ruin. A high wall formerly enclosed it, but, in a shock of
earthquake some years ago, part of this had fallen, leaving a gap
which framed a lovely picture of the inland hills. Basil pulled away
the trailing leafage from a marble hemicycle, and, having spread his
cloak upon it, begged tremorously that Veranilda would rest.

'That wall shall be rebuilt,' said Aurelia, and, as if to inspect
the ruin, wandered away. When she was distant not many paces, Basil
bent to his seated companion, and breathed in a passionate
undertone:

'My letter reached your hands, O fairest?'

'I received it--I read it.'

As she spoke, Veranilda's cheeks flushed as if in shame.

'Will you reply, were it but one word?'

Her head drooped lower. Basil seated himself at her side.

'One word, O Veranilda! I worship you--my soul longs for you--
say only that you will be mine, my beloved lady, my wife!'

Her blue eyes glistened with moisture as for an instant they met the
dark glow in his.

'Do you know who I am?' she whispered.

'You are Veranilda! You are beauty and sweetness and divine purity--'

He sought her hand, but at this moment Aurelia turned towards them,
and the maiden, quivering, stood up.

'Perhaps the sun is too powerful,' said Aurelia, with her tenderest
smile. 'My lily has lived so long in the shade.'

They lingered a little on the shadowed side, Aurelia reviving
memories of her early life, then passed again under the vaulted
arch. Basil, whose eyes scarcely moved from Veranilda's face, could
not bring himself to address her in common words, and dreaded that
she would soon vanish. So indeed it befell. With a murmur of apology
to her friend, and a timid movement of indescribable grace in
Basil's direction, she escaped, like a fugitive wild thing, into
solitude.

'Why has she gone?' exclaimed the lover, all impatience. 'I must
follow her--I cannot live away from her! Let me find her again.'

His cousin checked him.

'I have to speak to you, Basil. Come where we can be private.'

They entered the room where they had sat before, and Aurelia, taking
up the needlework left by Veranilda, showed it to her companion with
admiration.

'She is wondrous at this art. In a contest with Minerva, would she
not have fared better than Arachne? This mourning garment which I
wear is of her making, and look at the delicate work; it was wrought
four years ago, when I heard of my brother's death--wrought in a
few days. She was then but thirteen. In all that it beseems a woman
to know, she is no less skilled. Yonder lies her cithern; she learnt
to touch it, I scarce know how, out of mere desire to soothe my
melancholy, and I suspect--though she will not avow it--that the
music she plays is often her own. In sickness she has tended me with
skill as rare as her gentleness; her touch on the hot forehead is
like that of a flower plucked before sunrise. Hearing me speak thus
of her, what think you, O Basil, must be my trust in the man to whom
I would give her for wife?'

'Can you doubt my love, O Aurelia?' cried the listener, clasping his
hands before him.

'Your love? No. But your prudence, is that as little beyond doubt?'

'I have thought long and well,' said Basil.

Aurelia regarded him steadily.

'You spoke with her in the garden just now. Did she reply?'

'But few words. She asked me if I knew her origin, and blushed as
she spoke.'

'It is her wish that I should tell you; and I will.'

Scarce had Aurelia begun her narrative, when Basil perceived that
his own conjecture, and that of Marcian, had hit the truth.
Veranilda was a great-grandchild of Amalafrida, the sister of King
Theodoric, being born of the daughter of King Theodahad; and her
father was that Ebrimut, whose treachery at the beginning of the
great war delivered Rhegium into the hands of the Greeks. Her
mother, Theodenantha, a woman of noble spirit, scorned the unworthy
Goth, and besought the conqueror to let her remain in Italy, even as
a slave, rather than share with such a husband the honours of the
Byzantine court. She won this grace from Belisarius, and was
permitted to keep with her the little maiden, just growing out of
childhood. But shame and grief had broken her heart; after a few
months of imprisonment at Cumae she died. And Veranilda passed into
the care of the daughter of Maximus.

'For I too was a captive,' said Aurelia, 'and of the same religion
as the orphan child. By happy hazard I had become a friend of her
mother, in those days of sorrow; and with careless scorn our
conquerors permitted me to take Veranilda into my house. As the
years went by, she was all but forgotten; there came a new
governor--this thievish Hun--who paid no heed to us. I looked forward
to a day when we might quit Cumae and live in freedom where we would.
Then something unforeseen befell. Half a year ago, just when the air
of spring began to breathe into that dark, chill house, a distant
kinsman of ours, who has long dwelt in Byzantium--do you know
Olybrius, the son of Probinus?'

'I have heard his name.'

'He came to me, as if from my father; but I soon discovered that he
had another mission, his main purpose being to seek for Veranilda.
By whom sent, I could not learn; but he told me that Ebrimut was
dead, and that his son, Veranilda's only brother, was winning glory
in the war with the Persians. For many days I lived in fear lest my
pearl should be torn from me. Olybrius it was, no doubt, who bade
the Hun keep watch upon us, and it can only have been by chance that
I was allowed to go forth unmolested when you led me hither the
first time. He returned to Byzantium, and I have heard no more. But
a suspicion haunts my mind. What if Marcian were also watching
Veranilda?'

'Marcian!' cried the listener incredulously. 'You do not know him.
He is the staunchest and frankest of friends. He knows of my love;
we have talked from heart to heart.'

'Yet it was at his intercession that the Hun allowed us to go; why,
you cannot guess. What if he have power and motives which threaten
Veranilda's peace?'

Basil exclaimed against this as the baseless fear of a woman. Had
there been a previous command from some high source touching the
Gothic maiden, Chorsoman would never have dared to sell her freedom.
As to Marcian's power, that was derived from the authorities at
Rome, and granted him for other ends; if he used it to release
Veranilda, he acted merely out of love to his friend, as would soon
be seen.

'I will hope so,' murmured Aurelia. 'Now you have heard what she
herself desired that I should tell you, for she could not meet your
look until you knew it. Her father's treachery is Veranilda's shame;
she saw her noble mother die for it, and it has made her mourning
keener than a common sorrow. I think she would never have dared to
wed a Goth; all true Goths, she believes in her heart, must despise
her. It is her dread lest you, learning who she is, should find your
love chilled.'

'Call her,' cried Basil, starting to his feet. 'Or let me go to her.
She shall not suffer that fear for another moment. Veranilda!
Veranilda!'

His companion retained and quieted him. He should see Veranilda ere
long. But there was yet something to be spoken of.

'Have you forgotten that she is not of your faith?'

'Do I love her, adore her, the less?' exclaimed Basil. 'Does she
shrink from me on that account?'

'I know,' pursued his cousin, 'what the Apostle of the Gentiles has
said: "For the husband who believes not is sanctified by the wife,
and the wife who believes not is sanctified by the husband." None
the less, Veranilda is under the menace of the Roman law; and you,
if it be known that you have wedded her, will be in peril from all
who serve the Emperor--at least in dark suspicion; and will be
slightly esteemed by all of our house.'

The lover paced about, and all at once, with a wild gesture, uttered
his inmost thought.

'What if I care naught for those of our house? And what if the
Emperor of the East is of as little account to me? My country is not
Byzantium, but Rome.'

Aurelia hushed his voice, but her eyes shone with stern gladness as
she stood before him, and took him by the hand, and spoke what he
alone could hear.

'Then unite yourself in faith with those who would make Rome free.
Be one in religion with the brave Goths--with Veranilda.'

He cast down his eyes and drew a deep breath.

'I scarce know what that religion is, O Aurelia,' came from him
stammeringly. 'I am no theologian; I never cared to puzzle my head
about the mysteries which men much wiser than I declare to pass all
human understanding. Ask Decius if he can defend the faith of
Athanasius against that of the Arians; he will smile, and shake his
head in that droll way he has. I believe,' he added after a brief
hesitancy, 'in Christ and in the Saints. Does not Veranilda also?'

The temptress drew back a little, seated herself; yielded to
troublous thought. It was long since she had joined in the worship
of a congregation, for at Cumae there was no Arian church. Once only
since her captivity had she received spiritual comfort from an Arian
priest, who came to that city in disguise. What her religion truly
was she could not have declared, for the memories of early life were
sometimes as strong in her as rancour against the faith of her
enemies. Basil's simple and honest utterance touched her conscience.
She put an end to the conversation, promising to renew it before
long; whilst Basil, for his part, went away to brood, then to hold
converse with Decius.

Through all but the whole of Theodoric's reign, Italy had enjoyed a
large toleration in religion: Catholics, Arians, and even Jews
observed their worship under the protection of the wise king. Only
in the last few years of his life did he commit certain acts of
harshness against his Catholic subjects, due to the wrath that was
moved in him by a general persecution of the Arians proclaimed at
Byzantium. His Gothic successors adhered to Theodoric's better
principle, and only after the subjugation of the land by Belisarius
had Arianism in Italy been formally condemned. Of course it was
protected by the warring Goths: Totila's victories had now once more
extended religious tolerance over a great part of the country; the
Arian priesthood re-entered their churches; and even in Rome the
Greek garrison grew careless of the reviving heresy. Of these things
did Decius speak, when the distressed lover sought his counsel. No
one more liberal than Decius; but he bore a name which he could not
forget, and in his eyes the Goth was a barbarian, the Gothic woman
hardly above the level of a slave. That Basil should take a Gothic
wife, even one born of a royal line, seemed to him an indignity.
Withheld by the gentleness of his temper from saying all he thought,
he spoke only of the difficulties which would result from such a
marriage, and when, in reply, Basil disclosed his mind, though less
vehemently than to Aurelia, Decius fell into meditation. He, too,
had often reflected with bitterness on the results of that
restoration of Rome to the Empire which throughout the Gothic
dominion most of the Roman nobles had never ceased to desire; all
but was he persuaded to approve the statesmanship of Cassiodorus.
Nevertheless, he could not, without shrinking, see a kinsman pass
over to the side of Totila.

'I must think,' he murmured. 'I must think.'

He had not yet seen Veranilda. When, in the afternoon, Basil led him
into the ladies' presence, and his eyes fell upon that white-robed
loveliness, censure grew faint in him. Though a Decius, he was a man
of the sixth century after Christ; his mind conceived an ideal of
human excellence which would have been unintelligible to the Decii
of old; in his heart meekness and chastity had more reverence than
perhaps he imagined. He glanced at Basil; he understood. Though the
future still troubled him, opposition to the lover's will must, he
knew, be idle.

Several hours before, Basil had scratched on a waxed tablet a few
emphatic lines, which his cousin allowed to be transmitted to
Veranilda. They assured her that what he had learned could only--
if that were possible--increase his love, and entreated her to
grant him were it but a moment's speech after the formal visit,
later in the day. The smile with which she now met him seemed at
once gratitude and promise; she was calmer, and less timid. Though
she took little part in the conversation, her words fell very
sweetly after the men's speech and the self-confident tones of
Aurelia; her language was that of an Italian lady, but in the accent
could be marked a slight foreignness, which to Basil's ear had the
charm of rarest music, and even to Decius sounded not unpleasing.
Under the circumstances, talk, confined to indifferent subjects,
could not last very long; as soon as it began to flag, Decius found
an excuse for begging permission to retire. As though wishing for a
word with him in confidence, Aurelia at the same time passed out of
the room into the colonnade. Basil and Veranilda were left alone.





CHAPTER VI

THE EMPEROR'S COMMAND




His voice made tremulous music, inaudible a few paces away; his
breath was on her cheek; his eyes, as she gazed into them, seemed to
envelop her in their glow.

'My fairest! Let me but touch your hand. Lay it for a moment in mine--a
pledge for ever!'

'You do not fear to love me, O lord of my life?'

The whisper made him faint with joy.

'What has fear to do with love, O thou with heaven in thine eyes!
what room is there for fear in the heart where thy beauty dwells?
Speak again, speak again, my beloved, and bless me above all men
that live!'

'Basil! Basil! Utter my name once more. I never knew how sweet it
could sound.'

'Nor I, how soft could be the sound of mine. Forgive me, O
Veranilda, that out of my love pain has come to you. You will not
ever be sad again? You will not think ever again of those bygone
sorrows?'

She bent her head low.

'Can you believe in my truth, O Basil? Can _you_ forget?'

'All save the nobleness of her who bore you, sweet and fair one.'

'Let _that_ be ever in your thought,' said Veranilda, with a radiant
look. 'She sees me now; and my hope, your strength and goodness,
bring new joy to her in the life eternal.'

'Say the word I wait for--whisper low--the word of all words.'

'Out of my soul, O Basil, I love you!'

As the sound trembled into silence, his lips touched hers. In the
golden shadow of her hair, the lily face flushed warm; yet she did
not veil her eyes, vouchers of a life's loyalty.

When Aurelia entered the room again, she walked as though absorbed
in thought.

'Decius tells me he must soon go to Rome,' were her words, in
drawing near to the lovers.

Basil had heard of no such purpose. His kinsman, under the will of
Maximus, enjoyed a share in the annual revenue of this Surrentine
estate; moreover, he became the possessor of many books, which lay
in the Anician mansion of Rome, and it was his impatience. thought
Aurelia, to lay hands upon so precious a legacy, which might at any
time be put in danger by the events of the war, that prompted him to
set forth.

'Might he not perform the duty you have undertaken?' she added in a
lower voice, as she met Basil's look.

Veranilda did not speak, but an anxious hope dawned in her face. And
Basil saw it.

'Have you spoken of it, cousin?' he asked.

'The thought has but just come to me.'

'Decius is not in good health. Thus late in the year, to travel by
sea--Yet the weather may be fair, the sea still; and then it
would be easier for him than the journey by land.'

Basil spoke in a halting tone. He could not without a certain shame
think of revoking his promise to Petronilla, a very distinct
promise, in which natural obligation had part. Yet the thought of
the journey, of an absence from Veranilda, not without peril of many
kinds, grew terrible to him. He looked at Veranilda again, and
smiled encouragement.

The lady Petronilla had been wont to dine and sup in dignified
publicity, seated on the _sigma_, in the room which had seen so many
festivals, together with her male relatives and any guest who might
be at the villa; in her presence, no man permitted himself the
recumbent attitude, which indeed had been unusual save among the
effeminate. But Aurelia and her companion took their meals apart.
This evening, Basil and Decius supped almost in silence, each busy
with his reflections. They lingered over the wine, their attendants
having left them, until Decius, as if rousing himself from a dream,
asked how long it was likely to be before the ship could sail. Basil
answered that the leaden coffin would be ready within a few days (it
was being made at Neapolis, out of water-pipes which had served a
villa in ruins), and after that there would only be delay through
wind and weather.

'Are you greatly bent on going to Rome just now?' was the student's
next inquiry, a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke.

'By Bacchus!' answered the other, handling his goblet. 'If I saw my
way to avoid it!'

'I guessed as much. The suspicion came to me at a certain moment
this morning--a mere grain, which ever since has been growing
_tanquam favus_. I am not wont to consider myself as of much use,
but is it not just possible that, in this case, your humble kinsman
might serve you?'

'My good, my excellent, my very dear Decius!' broke from the
listener. 'But would it not be with risk to your health?'

'I would beg permission not to weigh anchor in a tempest, that's
all. The sea in its gentler moods I have never feared, and
_alcyoneum medicamen_, you know, in other words the sea-foam, has
always been recommended for freckles.'

He touched his face, which was in deed much freckle-spotted, and
Basil, whose spirits rose each moment, gave a good-natured laugh.

'One thing only,' added Decius seriously. 'Inasmuch as this charge
is a grave one, I would not undertake it without the consent of the
ladies Aurelia and Petronilla. Perchance, in respect for the
honoured Maximus, they would feel reluctant to see me take your
place.'

'O modest Decius!' exclaimed the other. 'Which, pray, carries the
more dignity, your name or mine?--not to speak of your learning
and my ignorance. As to Aurelia, I can ease your mind at once. She
would not dream of objecting.'

'Then let us, to-morrow, beg audience of the pious lady at
Surrentum, and request her permission.'

The proposal made Basil uncomfortable; but a visit of respect to
Petronilla was certainly due, and perhaps it would pass without
troublesome incident. He nodded assent.

Early on the morrow they carried out their purpose. To the surprise
of both, Petronilla received them in her modest abode not
ungraciously, though with marked condescension; she gave them to
understand that her days, and much of her nights, passed in
religious exercises, the names of her kinsfolk not being omitted
from her prayers; of the good bishop she spoke almost tenderly, and
with a humble pride related that she had been able to ease a
persistent headache from which his Sanctity suffered. When Basil
found an opportunity of reporting what had passed between him and
Decius, the lady's austere smile was for a moment clouded; it looked
as though storm might follow. But the smile returned, with perhaps a
slightly changed significance. Did Basil think of remaining long at
the villa? Ah, he could not say; to be sure, the times were so
uncertain. For her own part, she would start on her journey as soon
as the coffin was on board the ship. Indeed, she saw no objection to
the arrangement her dear nephew proposed; she only trusted that the
learned and amiable Decius, so justly esteemed by all, would have a
care of his health. Did he still take the infusion of marjoram which
she had prescribed for him? A holy man, newly returned from the
East, had deigned to visit her only yesterday, and had given her a
small phial of water from Rebekah's well; it was of priceless
virtue, and one drop of it had last evening restored to health and
strength a child that lay at the point of death.

In the afternoon Basil was again permitted to see Veranilda, though
not alone. To her and to Aurelia he made known that Decius would
willingly undertake the voyage. After lingering for an hour in the
vain hope that Aurelia would withdraw, were it but for a moment, he
went away and scratched ardent words on his tablet. 'I will be in
your garden,' he concluded, 'just at sunrise to-morrow. Try, try to
meet me there.'

Scarcely had he despatched a servant with this when Felix announced
to him the arrival of Marcian. On fire with eagerness, Basil sped to
greet his friend.

'Give me to drink,' were the traveller's first words. 'I have ridden
since before dawn, and have a tongue like leather.'

Wine and grapes, with other refreshments, were set forth for him.
Marcian took up an earthenware jug full of spring water, and drank
deeply. His host then urged the wine, but it was refused; and as
Basil knew that one of his friend's peculiarities was a rigorous
abstinence at times from all liquor save the pure element, he said
no more.

'I have been at Nuceria,' Marcian continued, throwing himself on a
seat, 'with Venantius. What a man! He was in the saddle yesterday
from sunrise to sunset; drank from sunset to the third hour of the
night; rose before light this morning, gay and brisk, and made me
ride with him, so that I was all but tired out before I started on
the road hither. Venantius declares that he can only talk of serious
things on horseback.'

'My uncle regarded him as a Roman turned barbarian,' said Basil.

'Something of that, but such men have their worth and their place.'

'We will talk about him at another time,' Basil interrupted.
'Remember how we parted at Cumae and what happened afterwards. We
are private here; you can speak freely. How did you release us from
the grip of the Hun?'

'I told you before, good Basil, that I was here to spy upon you; and
be sure that I did not undertake that office without exacting a
proof of the confidence of our lords at Rome. Something I carry with
me which has power over such dogs as Chorsoman.'

'I saw that, best Marcian. But it did not avail to save my cousin
Aurelia from robbery.'

'Nothing would, where Chorsoman was sure of a week's--nay, of an
hour's--impunity. But did he steal aught belonging to the Gothic
maiden?'

'To Veranilda? She has but a bracelet and a ring, and those she was
wearing. They came from her mother, a woman of noblest heart, who,
when her husband Ebrimut played the traitor, and she was left behind
in Italy, would keep nothing but these two trinkets, which once were
worn by Amalafrida.'

'You know all that now,' observed Marcian quietly.

'The story of the trinkets only since an hour or two ago. That of
Veranilda's parentage I learned from Aurelia, Veranilda refusing to
converse with me until I knew.'

'Since when you have conversed, I take it, freely enough.'

'Good my lord,' replied Basil, with a look of some earnestness, 'let
us not jest on this matter.'

'I am little disposed to do so, O fiery lover!' said Marcian, with a
return of his wonted melancholy. 'For I have that to tell you which
makes the matter grave enough. We were right, you see, in our guess
of Veranilda's origin; I could wish she had been any one else.
Patience, patience! You know that I left you here to go to Neapolis.
There I received letters from Rome, one of them from Bessas himself,
and, by strange hazard, the subject of it was the daughter of
Ebrimut.'

Basil made a gesture of repugnance. 'Nay, call her the daughter of
Theodenantha.'

'As you will. In any case the granddaughter of a king, and not
likely to be quite forgotten by the royal family of her own race.
Another king's grandchild, Matasuntha, lives, as you know, at
Byzantium, and enjoys no little esteem at the Emperor's court; it is
rumoured, indeed, that her husband Vitiges, having died somewhere in
battle, Matasuntha is to wed a nephew of Justinian. This lady, I am
told, desires to know the daughter of Ebri--nay, then, of
Theodenantha; of whom, it seems, a report has reached her. A command
of the Emperor has come to Bessas that the maiden Veranilda,
resident at Cumae, be sent to Constantinople with all convenient
speed. And upon me, O Basil, lies the charge of seeking her in her
dwelling, and of conveying her safely to Rome, where she will be
guarded until--'

'Will be guarded!' echoed Basil fiercely. 'Nay, by the holy Peter
and Paul, that will she not! You are my friend, Marcian, and I hold
you dear, but if you attempt to obey this order--'

Hand on dagger, and eyes glaring, the young noble had sprung to his
feet. Marcian did not stir; his head was slightly bent, and a sad
smile hovered about his lips.

'O descendant of all the Anicii,' he replied, 'O son of many
consuls, remember the ancestral dignity. Time enough to threaten
when you detect me in an unfriendly act. Did I play the traitor to
you at Cumae? With the Hun this command of Justinian served you in
good stead; Veranilda would not otherwise have escaped so easily.
Chorsoman, fat-witted as he is, willingly believed that Veranilda
and Aurelia, and you yourself, were all in my net--which means the
net of Bessas, whom he fears. Do you also believe it, my good
Basil?'

For answer Basil embraced his friend, and kissed him on either
cheek.

'I know how this has come about,' he said; and thereupon related the
story of the visit of Olybrius to Aurelia six months ago. It seemed
probable that a report of Veranilda's beauty had reached Matasuntha,
who wished to adorn her retinue with so fair a remnant of the Amal
race. How, he went on to ask, would Marcian excuse himself at Rome
for his failure to perform this office?

'Leave that to my ingenuity,' was the reply. 'Enough for you to dare
defiance of the Emperor's will.'

Basil made a scornful gesture, which his friend noted with the same
melancholy smile.

'You have no misgiving?' said Marcian. 'Think who it is you brave.
Imperator Caesar Flavius Justinianus--Africanus, Gothicus,
Germanicus, Vandalicus, and I know not what else--Pius, Felix,
Inclytus, Victor ac Triumphator, Semper Augustus--'

The other laid a hand upon his shoulder.

'Marcian, no word of this to Aurelia, I charge you!'

'I have no desire to talk about it, be assured. But it is time that
we understood each other. Be plain with me. If you wed Veranilda how
do you purpose to secure your safety? Not, I imagine, by prostrating
yourself before Bessas. Where will you be safe from pursuit?'

Basil reflected, then asked boldly:

'Has not the King Totila welcomed and honourably entertained Romans
who have embraced his cause?'

'Come now,' exclaimed the other, his sad visage lighting up, 'that
is to speak like a man! So, we _do_ understand each other. Be it
known unto you then, O Basil, that at this moment the Gothic king is
aware of your love for Veranilda, and of your purpose to espouse
her. You indeed are a stranger to him, even in name; but not so the
Anician house; and an Anician, be assured, will meet with no cold
reception in the camp of the Goths.'

'You enjoy the confidence of Totila?' asked Basil, wondering, and a
little confused.

'Did I not tell you that I claimed the merit of playing traitor to
both sides?'

Marcian spoke with a note of bitterness, looking his friend fixedly
in the face.

'It is a noble treachery,' said Basil, seizing both his hands. 'I am
with you, heart and soul! Tell me more. Where is the king? Will he
march upon Rome?'

'Neapolis will see him before Rome does. He comes slowly through
Samnium, making sure his conquest on the way. Let me now speak again
of Venantius. He would fain know you.'

'He is one of ours?'

'One of those true Romans who abhor the Eastern tyranny and see in
the Goth a worthy ally. Will you ride with me to-morrow to Nuceria?'

'I cannot,' replied Basil, 'for I dare not leave Veranilda without
protection, after what you have told me.'

'Why, then, Venantius must come hither.'

Whilst the friends were thus conversing a courier rode forth from
Surrentum towards Neapolis. He bore a letter whereof the contents
were these:--

'To the holy and reverend deacon Leander, Petronilla's humble
salutation.

'I am most punctually informed of all that passes at the villa. My
nephew goes not to Rome; his place will be taken by Decius. The
reason is that which I have already suggested to your Sanctity.
Marcian has arrived this afternoon, coming I know not whence, but I
shall learn. I suspect things of the darkest moment. Let your
Sanctity pursue the project with which heaven has inspired you. You
shall receive, if necessary, two missives every day. Humbly I
entreat your prayers.'





CHAPTER VII

HERESY




The Roman Empire, by confining privileges and honours to the
senatorial order, created a noble caste, and this caste, as Imperial
authority declined, became a power independent of the state, and a
menace to its existence. In Italy, by the end of the fifth century,
the great system of citizenship, with its principle of infinite
devotion to the good of the commonwealth, was all but forgotten. In
matters of justice and of finance the nobles were beginning to live
by their own law, which was that of the right of the strongest.
Having ceased to hold office and perform public services in the
municipia, they became, in fact, rulers of the towns situated on or
near their great estates. Theodoric, striving to uphold the ancient
civility, made strenuous efforts to combat this aristocratic
predominance; yet on some points he was obliged to yield to the
tendency of the times, as when he forbade the freedmen, serfs, and
slaves on any estate to plead against their lord, and so delivered
the mass of the rural inhabitants of Italy to private jurisdiction.
The Gothic war of course hastened the downfall of political and
social order. The manners of the nobles grew violent in lawlessness;
men calling themselves senators, but having in fact renounced that
rank by permanent absence from Rome, and others who merely belonged
to senatorial houses, turned to fortifying their villas, and to
building castles on heights, whilst they gathered about them a body
of retainers, armed for defence or for aggression.

Such a personage was Venantius, son of a senator of the same name,
who, under Theodoric, had attained the dignity of Patrician and what
other titular glories the time afforded. Venantius, the younger,
coming into possession of an estate between Neapolis and Salernum,
here took up his abode after the siege of Rome, and lived as seemed
good to him, lord over the little town of Nuceria, and of a
considerable tract of country, with a villa converted into a
stronghold up on the mountain side. Having suffered wrongs at the
hands of the Imperial conquerors--property of his in Rome had been
seized--he heard with satisfaction of the rise of Totila, and, as
soon as the king's progress southward justified such a step, entered
into friendly communication with the Goth, whom he invited to come
with all speed into Campania, where Salernum, Neapolis, Cumae, would
readily fall into his hands. Marcian, on his double mission of spy
in the Greek service and friend of the Goths, had naturally sought
out Venantius; and the description he gave to Basil of the fortress
above Nuceria filled the listener with enthusiasm.

'I would I could live in the same way,' Basil exclaimed. 'And why
not? My own villa in Picenum might be strengthened with walls and
towers. We have stone enough, and no lack of men to build.'

Yet as he spoke a misgiving betrayed itself on his countenance.
Consciously or not, he had always had before him a life at Rome, the
life which became a Roman, as distinguished from a barbarian. But
the need to seek security for Veranilda again became vivid to his
mind. At Rome, clearly, he could not live with his wife until the
Goths had reconquered the city, which was not likely to happen soon.
His means were represented chiefly by the Arpinum estate, which he
had inherited from his father; in Rome he had nothing but his
mansion on the Caelian. The treasure at his command, a considerable
sum, he had brought away in a strong box, and it was now more than
doubled in value by what fell to him under the will of Maximus--
money to be paid out of the great coffer which the senator had
conveyed hither. As they talked, Marcian urged upon him a close
friendship with Venantius, in whose castle he would be welcomed.
Here at Surrentum he could not long rest in safety, for Chorsoman
might at any time have his suspicions awakened by learning the delay
of Veranilda's journey to Rome, and the news of her marriage could
not be prevented from spreading.

So Basil lay through an anxious hour or two before sleep fell upon
him to-night. He resolved to change the habits of his life, to shake
off indolence and the love of ease, to fortify himself with vigorous
exercises, and become ready for warfare. It was all very well for an
invalid, like Decius, to nurse a tranquil existence, unheeding the
temper of the times. A strong and healthy man had no right to lurk
away from the streaming flood of things; it behoved him to take his
part in strife and tumult, to aid in re-establishing a civic state.
This determination firmly grasped, he turned to think of the
hoped-for meeting with Veranilda in the morning, and gentler
emotions lulled him into dreams.

At dawn he bestirred himself. The gallery outside his chamber was
lighted with a hanging lamp, and at a little distance sounded the
footstep of the watchman, who told him that the morning was fair,
and, at his bidding, opened a door which admitted to the open
terrace overlooking the sea. Having stepped forth, Basil stood for a
moment sniffing the cool air with its scent from the vineyards, and
looking at the yellow rift in the eastern sky; then he followed a
path which skirted the villa's outward wall and led towards the
dwelling of Aurelia. Presently he reached the ruined wall of the
little garden, and here a voice challenged him, that of a servant on
watch until sunrise.

'It is well,' he replied. 'I will relieve you for this last half
hour; go to your rest.'

But the slave hesitated. He had strictest orders, and feared to
disobey them even at this bidding.

'You are an honest fellow,' said Basil, 'and the lady Aurelia shall
know of your steadfastness. But get you gone; there is no danger
whilst I am here.'

Impatiently he watched the man retire, then stood just within the
gap of the wall, and waited with as much fear as hope. It might be
that Veranilda would not venture forth without speaking to Aurelia,
who might forbid the meeting; or, if she tried to steal out, she
might be detected and hindered; perhaps she would fear to pass under
the eyes of a watchman or other servant who might be in her way. He
stamped nervously, and turned to look for a moment in the outward
direction. This little villa stood on the edge of a declivity
falling towards the sea; a thicket of myrtles grew below. At the
distance of half a mile along the coast, beyond a hollow wooded with
ilex, rose a temple, which time and the hand of man had yet spared;
its whiteness glimmered against a sky whose cloudless dusk was
warming with a reflection of the daybreak. An influence in the scene
before him, something he neither understood nor tried to understand,
held him gazing longer than he supposed, and with a start he heard
his name spoken by the beloved voice. Close to him stood Veranilda.
She was cloaked and hooded, so that he could hardly see her face;
but her white hands were held out for his.

Heart to heart, mouth to mouth, they whispered. To be more private,
Basil drew her without the garden. Veranilda's eyes fixed themselves
upon the spreading glory of the east; and it moved her to utterance.

'When I was a child,' she said, 'at Ravenna, I gazed once at the
sunrise, and behold, in the rays which shot upwards stood an angel,
a great, beautiful angel, with wings of blue, and a garment which
shone like gold, and on his head was a wreath of I know not what
flowers. I ran to tell my mother, but when she came, alas! the angel
had vanished. No one could tell me certainly what the vision meant.
Often I have looked and hoped to see the angel again, but he has
never come.'

Basil listened without a doubt, and murmured soft words. Then he
asked whether Aurelia knew of this meeting; but Veranilda shook her
head.

'I durst not speak. I so feared to disappoint you. This night I have
hardly slept, lest I should miss the moment. Should I not return
very soon, O Basil?'

'You shall; though your going will make the sky black as when Auster
blows. But it is not for long. A few days--'

He broke off with the little laugh of a triumphing lover.

'A few days?' responded Veranilda, timidly questioning.

'We wait only until that dark ship has sailed for Rome.' 'Does
Aurelia know that you purpose it so soon?' asked Veranilda.

'Why? Has she seemed to you to wish otherwise?'

'She has never spoken of it.--And afterwards? Shall we remain
here, Basil?'

'For no long time. Here I am but a guest. We must dwell where I am
lord and you lady of all about us.'

He told her of his possessions, of the great house in Rome with the
villa at Arpinum. Then he asked her, playfully, but with a serious
purpose in his mind, which of the two she would prefer for an abode.

'I have no choice but yours,' she replied. 'Where it seems good to
my dear lord to dwell, there shall I be at rest.'

'We must be safe against our enemies,' said Basil, with graver
countenance.

'Our enemies?'

'Has not Aurelia talked to you of the war? You know that the Gothic
king is conquering all before him, coming from the north?'

Veranilda looked into her lover's face with a tender anxiety.

'And you fear him, O Basil? It is he that is our enemy?'

'Not so, sweetest. No foe of mine is he who wears the crown of
Theodoric. They whom I fear and abhor are the slaves of Justinian,
the robber captains who rule at Ravenna and in Rome.'

As she heard him, Veranilda trembled with joy. She caught his hand,
and bent over it, and kissed it.

'Had I been the enemy of Totila,' said Basil, 'could you still have
loved me as a wife should love?'

'I had not asked myself,' she answered, 'for it was needless. When I
look on you, I think neither of Roman nor of Goth.'

Basil spoke of his hope that Rome might be restored to the same
freedom it had enjoyed under the great king. Then they would dwell
together in the sacred city. That, too, was Veranilda's desire; for
on her ear the name of Rome fell with a magic sound; all her life
she had heard it spoken reverentially, with awe, yet the city itself
she had never seen. Rome, she knew, was vast; there, it seemed to
her, she would live unobserved, unthought of save by him she loved.
Seclusion from all strangers, from all who, learning her origin,
would regard her slightingly, was what her soul desired.

Day had broken; behind the mountains there was light of the sun.
Once more they held each other heart to heart, and Veranilda
hastened through the garden to regain her chamber. Basil stood for
some minutes lost in a delicious dream; the rising day made his face
beautiful, his eyes gleamed with an unutterable rapture. At length
he sighed and awoke and looked about him. At no great distance, as
though just issued from the ilex wood, moved a man's figure. It
approached very slowly, and Basil watched until he saw that the man
was bent as if with age, and had black garments such as were worn by
wandering mendicant monks. Carelessly he turned, and went his way
back to the villa.

An hour later, Aurelia learnt that a 'holy man,' a pilgrim much
travel worn, was begging to be admitted to her. She refused to see
him. Still he urged his entreaty, declaring that he had a precious
gift for her acceptance, and an important message for her ear. At
length he was allowed to enter the atrium, and Aurelia saw before
her a man in black monkish habit, his body bent and tremulous, but
evidently not with age, for his aspect otherwise was that of middle
life. What, she asked briefly and coldly, was his business with her?
Thereupon the monk drew from his bosom a small wrappage of tissues,
which when unfolded disclosed a scrap of something hairy.

'This, noble lady,' said the monk, in a voice reverently subdued,
'is from the camel-hair garment of Holy John the Baptist. I had it
of a hermit in the Egyptian desert, who not many days after I
quitted him was for his sanctity borne up to heaven by angels, and
knew not death.'

Aurelia viewed the relic with emotion.

'Why,' she asked, 'do you offer it to me?'

The monk drew a step nearer and whispered:

'Because I know that you, like him from whom I received it, are of
the true faith.'

Aurelia observed him closely. His robe was ragged and filthy; his
bare feet were thick with the dust of the road; his visage, much
begrimed, wore an expression of habitual suffering, and sighs as of
pain frequently broke from him. The hand by which he supported
himself on a staff trembled as with weakness.

'You are not a presbyter?' she said in an undertone, after a glance
at his untonsured head.

'I am unworthy of the meanest order in the Church. In pilgrimings
and fastings I do penance for a sin of youth. You see how wasted is
my flesh.'

'What, then,' asked Aurelia, 'was the message you said you bore for
me?'

'This. Though I myself have no power to perform the sacraments of
our faith, I tend upon one who has. He lies not far from here, like
myself sick and weary, and, because of a vow, may not come within
the precincts of any dwelling. In Macedonia, oppressed by our
persecutors, he was long imprisoned, and so sorely tormented that,
in a moment when the Evil One prevailed over his flesh, he denied
the truth. This sin gave him liberty, but scarce had he come forth
when a torment of the soul, far worse than that of his body, fell
upon him. He was delivered over to the Demon, and, being yet alive,
saw about him the fires of Gehenna. Thus, for a season, did he
suffer things unspeakable, wandering in desert places, ahungered,
athirst, faint unto death, yet not permitted to die. One night of
storm, he crept for shelter into the ruins of a heathen temple. Of a
sudden, a dreadful light shone about him, and he beheld the Demon in
the guise of that false god, who fell upon him and seemed like to
slay him. But Sisinnius--so is the holy man named--strove in
prayer and in conjuration, yea, strove hours until the crowing of
the cock, and thus sank into slumber. And while he slept, an angel
of the Most High appeared before him, and spoke words which I know
not. Since then, Sisinnius wanders from land to land, seeking out
the temples of the heathen which have not been purified, and passing
the night in strife with the Powers of Darkness, wherein he is ever
victorious.'

With intent look did Aurelia listen to this narrative. At its close,
she asked eagerly:

'This man of God has sent you to me?'

'Moved by a vision--for in the sleep which follows upon his
struggle it is often granted him to see beyond this world. He bids
you resist temptation, and be of good courage.'

'Know you what this bidding means?' inquired the awed woman, gazing
into the monk's eyes till they fell.

'I know nothing. I am but a follower of the holy Sisinnius--an
unworthy follower.'

'May I not speak with him?'

The monk had a troubled look.

'I have told you, lady, that he must not, by reason of his vow,
enter a human dwelling.'

'But may I not go to him?' she urged. 'May I not seek him in his
solitude, guided by you?'

To this, said the monk, he could give no reply until he had spoken
with Sisinnius. He promised to do so, and to return, though he knew
not at what hour, nor even whether it would be this day. And, after
demanding many assurances that he would come again as speedily as
might be, Aurelia allowed the messenger to depart.

Meanwhile Basil and Marcian have spent an hour in talk, the result
of which was a decision that Marcian should again repair to the
stronghold of Venantius, and persuade him to come over t6 Surrentum.
When his friend had ridden forth Basil sought conversation with
Aurelia, whom he found in a mood unlike any she had yet shown to
him, a mood of dreamy trouble, some suppressed emotion appearing in
her look and in her speech. He began by telling her of Venantius,
but this seemed to interest her less than he had expected.

'Cousin,' he resumed, 'I have a double thought in desiring that
Venantius should come hither. It is not only that I may talk with
him of the war, and learn his hopes, but that I may secure a safe
retreat for Veranilda when she is my wife, and for you, dear cousin,
if you desire it.'

He spoke as strongly as he could without revealing the secret
danger, of the risks to which they would all be exposed when rumours
of his marriage reached the governor of Cumae, or the Greeks in
Neapolis. Until the Goths reached Campania, a Roman here who fell
under suspicion of favouring them must be prepared either to flee or
to defend himself. Defence of this villa was impossible even against
the smallest body of soldiers, but within the walls, raised and
fortified by Venantius, a long siege might be safely sustained.

'It is true,' said Aurelia at length, as if rousing herself from her
abstraction, 'that we must think of safety. But you are not yet
wedded.'

'A few days hence I shall be.'

'Have you forgotten,' she resumed, meeting his resolute smile, 'what
still divides you from Veranilda?'

'You mean the difference of religion. Tell me, did that stand in the
way of your marriage with a Goth?'

She cast down her eyes and was silent.

'Was your marriage,' Basil went on, 'blessed by a Catholic or by an
Arian presbyter?'

'By neither,' replied Aurelia gently.

'Then why may it not be so with me and Veranilda? And so it shall
be, lady cousin,' he added cheerily. 'Our good Decius will be gone;
we await the sailing of the ship; but you and Marcian, and perhaps
Venantius, will be our witnesses.'

For the validity of Christian wedlock no religious rite was
necessary: the sufficient, the one indispensable, condition was
mutual consent. The Church favoured a union which had been
sanctified by the oblation and the blessing, but no ecclesiastical
law imposed this ceremony. As in the days of the old religion, a man
wedded his bride by putting the ring upon her finger and delivering
her dowry in a written document, before chosen witnesses. Aurelia
knew that even as this marriage had satisfied her, so would it
suffice to Veranilda, whom a rapturous love made careless of
doctrinal differences: She perceived, moreover, that Basil was in no
mood for religious discussion; there was little hope that he would
consent to postpone his marriage on such an account; yet to convert
Basil to 'heresy' was a fine revenge she would not willingly forego,
her own bias to Arianism being stronger than ever since the wrong
she believed herself to have suffered at the hands of the deacon,
and the insult cast at her by her long-hated aunt. After years of
bitterness, her triumph seemed assured. It was much to have
inherited from her father, to have expelled Petronilla; but the
marriage of Basil with a Goth, his renunciation of Catholicism, and
with it the Imperial cause, were greater things, and together with
their attainment she foredreamt the greatest of all, Totila's
complete conquest of Italy. She saw herself mistress in the Anician
palace at Rome, commanding vast wealth, her enemies mute, powerless,
submissive before her. Then, if it seemed good to her, she would
again wed, and her excited imagination deigned to think of no spouse
save him whose alliance would make her royal.

Providential was the coming of the holy Sisinnius. Beyond doubt he
had the gift of prophecy. From him she would not only receive the
consolations of religion, but might learn what awaited her. Very
slowly passed the hours until the reappearance of the black monk. He
came when day was declining, and joyfully she learnt that Sisinnius
permitted her to visit him; it must be on the morrow at the second
hour, the place a spot in the ilex wood, not far away, whither the
monk would guide her. But she must come alone; were she accompanied,
even at a distance, by any attendant, Sisinnius would refuse to see
her. To all the conditions Aurelia readily consented, and bade the
monk meet her at the appointed hour by the breach in her garden
wall.

On the morrow there was no glory of sunrise; clouds hung heavy, and
a sobbing wind shook the dry leaves of the vine. But at the second
hour, after pretence of idling about the garden, Aurelia saw
approach the black, bowed figure, with a gesture bade him go before,
and followed. She was absent not long enough to excite the remark of
her household. In going forth she had been pale with agitation; at
her return she had a fire in her cheeks, a lustre in her eyes, which
told of hopes abundantly fulfilled. At once she sought Veranilda, to
whom she had not yet spoken of the monk's visit. At this juncture
the coming even of an ordinary priest of the Arian faith would have
been more than welcome to them, living as they perforce did without
office or sacrament; but Sisinnius, declared Aurelia, was a
veritable man of God, one who had visions and saw into the future,
one whom merely to behold was a sacred privilege. She had begged his
permission to visit him again, with Veranilda, and he had consented;
but a few days must pass before that, as the holy man was called
away she knew not whither. When he summoned them they must go forth
in early morning, to a certain cave near at hand, where Sisinnius
would say mass and administer to them the communion. Hearing such
news, Veranilda gladdened.

'Will the holy man reveal our fate to us?' she asked, with a child's
simplicity.

'To me he has already uttered a prophetic word,' answered Aurelia,
'but I may not repeat it, no, not even to you. Enough that it has
filled my soul with wonder and joy.'

'May that joy also be mine!' said Veranilda, pressing her hands
together.

This afternoon, when Basil sat with her and Aurelia, she took her
cithern, and in a low voice sang songs she had heard her mother
sing, in the days before shame and sorrow fell upon Theodenantha.
There were old ballads of the Goths, oftener stern than tender, but
to the listeners, ignorant of her tongue, Veranilda's singing made
them sweet as lover's praise. One little song was Greek; it was all
she knew of that language, and the sole inheritance that had come to
her from her Greek-loving grandparent, the King Theodahad.

Auster was blowing; great lurid clouds rolled above the dark green
waters, and at evening rain began to fall. Through the next day, and
the day after that, the sky still lowered; there was thunder of
waves upon the shore; at times a mist swept down from the mountains,
which enveloped all in gloom. To Basil and Veranilda it mattered
nothing. Where they sat together there was sunshine, and before them
gleamed an eternity of cloudless azure.





CHAPTER VIII

THE SNARE




Meanwhile all was made ready for the sailing of the ship. Coffined
in lead, the body of Maximus awaited only a return of fine weather
for its conveyance to the vessel. When at length calm fell upon the
sea, and after a still night of gentle rain the day broke radiantly,
all Surrentum was in movement between church and harbour. Mass
having been said, the bishop himself led the procession down the
hollow way and through the chasm in the cliffs seaward, whilst
psalms were chanted and incense burnt. Carried in her litter,
Petronilla followed the bier; beside her walked Basil and Decius.
Only by conscious effort could these two subdue their visages to a
becoming sadness; for Basil thought of his marriage, Decius of Rome
and his library. Nor did Petronilla wear an aspect of very profound
gloom; at moments she forgot herself, and a singular animation
appeared on her proud features; it was as though some exultancy took
hold of her mind.

That Aurelia held apart, that the daughter gave no testimony of
reverence for a father's remains, caused such murmuring in the crowd
of Surrentines: her heresy seemed to be made more notorious, more
abominable, by this neglect. At Surrentum, Arianism had never been
known; no Goth had ever dwelt here; and since Aurelia's arrival
public opinion had had time to gather force against her. It was
believed that she had driven forth with insults the most noble
Petronilla, that exemplar of charity and of a saintly life. Worse
still was the rumour, now generally believed, that the Senator's
daughter had obtained her inheritance by wicked hypocrisy, by a
false show of return to the true faith. Being herself so evil, it
was not to be wondered that she corrupted those who fell under her
influence; the young lord Basil, for instance, who, incredible as it
sounded, was said to be on the point of espousing a Gothic damsel, a
mysterious attendant upon Aurelia, of whom strange stories were
rife. Talk of these things made no little agitation in the town when
ceremonies were over and the coffin had been embarked. The
generality threw up their hands, and cried shame, and asked why the
bishop did not take some action in so grave a scandal. But here and
there folk whispered together in a different tone, with winkings and
lips compressed, and nods significant of menace. Patience! Wait a
day or two, and they would see what they would see. Heaven was not
regardless of iniquity.

Scarce had the ship weighed anchor, to be wafted across the bay by a
gentle wind, when Petronilla started on her land journey for Rome.
The great chariot, the baggage, the servants riding, made fresh
commotion in Surrentum; many accompanied the great lady along the
winding road until they were weary and their curiosity satisfied. To
this obsequious escort Petronilla uttered certain words which before
evening were repeated throughout the town. 'Let us forgive our
enemies,' she said, with that air of hers, at once so grand and so
devout--'let us forgive our enemies, but let us omit no means,
however rigorous, of saving their souls'; and of those who reported
the saying, some winked and nodded more significantly than ever.

Just before sunset on this same day there was trampling of hoofs
along the road ascending to the villa, as two horsemen, with a dozen
followers, some on horses, some on mules, rode up. Summoned to the
atrium, Basil greeted the return of Marcian, and looked with
curiosity at the man standing beside him, who could be no other than
Venantius. A tall and comely man, wearing a casque and a light
breastplate, his years not more than thirty, rather slim, yet
evidently muscular and vigorous, he had a look of good-humoured
determination, and the tones in which he replied to Basil's welcome
were those of a born commander. In contrast with his host's
elaborate courtesy, the manners of Venantius might have been judged
a trifle barbarous, but this bluntness was no result of defective
breeding; had he chosen, he could have exchanged lofty titles and
superlatives of compliment with any expert in such fashionable
extravagances, but he chose a plainer speech, in keeping with his
martial aspect. First of all he excused himself for having arrived
with so many followers.

'But our good Marcian,' he added, clapping a hand on his companion's
shoulder, 'had a story to tell me of a fair lady and fairer
maiden--though not long to bear the name, she--who may belike need
protection as well as honourable attendance; whereas you, noble
Basil, have thought little of the use of arms, and probably keep no
very warlike retinue at command. So I mounted half a dozen bowmen,
who will ride and shoot with any Hun, and as many stout fellows who
can wield lance or throw javelin, and here they are at your gates.
Have no fear for the girls within doors; my men are both sober and
chaste by prudence, if not by nature. There was a time when I had to
make an example here and there'--he scowled a smile--'but now
they know me.'

Basil replied as became him, not without some slight imitation of
his guest's bluff manliness. Admiring, as he did, above all things,
that which savoured of heroism, he was strongly impressed by
Venantius, whose like, among natives of Rome, he had not yet beheld,
who shone before him, indeed, in a nobler light than any man he had
seen since the days when he worshipped Belisarius. Arrangements were
speedily made for the entertainment of the little armed troop, and
as dusk gathered the host and his two guests sat down to supper.
Whilst the meal was being made ready, Basil had found opportunity of
speech with Aurelia, who heard with great satisfaction of the coming
of Venantius, and promised to receive him early on the morrow.

'The lady Aurelia's name is not unknown to me,' said Venantius, when
Basil spoke of her at table. He would have added a remark, but
paused with a look at the attendant slaves. 'Her illustrious
father,' he went on, 'I spoke with when I was young. But for the
illness of Maximus I should have ventured hither during this year
gone by, notwithstanding some difference in our view of things; or
rather, to make sure whether there really was as much difference as
I supposed.'

'Perchance you would have found that there was not,' said Basil.
'Certainly not towards the end.'

'May his soul repose! He had the bearing which suited with his noble
name--a true Anicius to look upon. If Rome have need in these
times of another breed of citizens--and who can gainsay that?--
she will not forget such men as he, who lived with dignity when they
could do no more. You, my dear lord'--he turned towards Basil--
'Anicius though you are, see another way before you, what?'

They talked far into the night. When he spoke of the Imperial
conquerors--'Greeklings' he called them--Venantius gave vent to
his wrath and scorn. The Goths were right when they asked what had
ever come out of Greece save mimes and pirates; land-thieves they
might have added, for what else were the generals of Justinian with
their pillaging hordes? They dared to speak of the Goths as
barbarians--these Herules, Isaurians, Huns, Armenians, and
Teutons!--of the Goths, whose pride it had so long been to defend
Roman civilisation, and even to restore the Roman edifices. What
commander among them could compare with Totila, brave, just,
generous?

'By the Holy Mother!' he cried, with a great gesture, 'if I were not
wedded to a wife I love, who has borne me already three boys as
healthy as wolf cubs, I would follow your example, O Basil, and take
to myself a blue-eyed daughter of that noble race. They are
heretics, why yes, but as far as I can make out they pray much as I
do, and by heaven's grace may yet be brought to hold the truth as to
the Three-in-One. When they had the power, did they meddle with our
worship? Let every man believe as he list, say I, so that he believe
sincerely, and trust God against the devil.'

In the stillness of their secluded abode, Aurelia and Veranilda went
to rest earlier than usual this evening, for they were to arise
before the dawn. This afternoon they had been visited by the black
monk, who announced the return of Sisinnius, and invited them to the
promised mass on the morrow; and such was their agitation in the
foretaste of this religious ecstasy, as well as in the hope of
having their future revealed to them, that neither slept much during
the night. Not long after the crowing of the first cock, when all
was silent and dark, Aurelia stepped, with a lamp in her hand, into
the maiden's chamber.

'Is it the hour?' whispered Veranilda, raising herself.

'Not yet. I have had a troubled dream. I dreamt that this night the
holy Sisinnius had fought with the demon, and had been worsted. O
Veranilda!'--the speaker's voice trembled--'what may this mean?'

'Dearest lady,' answered the other reassuringly, 'may it not be a
temptation of the demon himself; who at times is permitted to tempt
even the holiest?'

'And you, sweet? You have not dreamt?'

'Only of Basil,' answered Veranilda, with a smile that asked pardon
for her happiness.

They talked over the disquieting vision, whilst the little
lamp-flame, wavering in breaths of air, cast strange shadows about
the room. On the walls were faded frescoes, one of which represented
the poetess Proba on her knees before St. Agnes. Impelled by her
fears, Aurelia of a sudden knelt before this picture, and prayed
silently to the virgin martyr. Then Veranilda rose from the couch,
and knelt beside her. Having solaced their souls, they kissed each
other tenderly.

'You are not afraid,' whispered Veranilda, 'that Basil may be in the
garden when we go forth?'

'Basil? Ah, little rogue, have you betrayed yourself?'

'Of a truth, dearest lady, he has been there more than once, but
not, oh not so early!'

'Nay, I hope not,' said Aurelia. 'It were scarce maidenly--'

'Never, never before the east had broken for the dayspring! Never, I
swear to you, O my heart's friend!'

'Then there is small fear of his interrupting us this morning; all
the more that he must have sat late with his friends, talking of
many things. I am glad of the coming of this brave Venantius; it
puts an end to every peril.'

They conversed on this encouraging theme until Aurelia's ear caught
the sound of a footfall in the gallery. She stepped forth and
encountered a female slave, who told her that there wanted two hours
to dawn; it was time, then, to set forth and a few minutes saw them
ready. In the garden they were met by the watchman, who carried a
lantern. He, having merely been ordered to stand in readiness at
this hour and being ignorant of his mistress's intention, showed
astonishment when he saw Aurelia and her companion bent on going
out. He took it for granted that he was to accompany them. But at
this moment there appeared in the rays of the lantern a black
figure, which had entered by the breach in the wall. Aurelia
whispered a few words to her watchman, whose religion was the same
as hers, and at once he dropped to his knees.

'Peace be with you, good brother,' said the monk, in his feeble
voice, as he drew a lantern from beneath his cloak. You may not
accompany us; but have no fear. The way is short.'

Forthwith he turned, and Aurelia, holding Veranilda's hand, followed
where he lighted the way. For a few minutes they pursued a level
path, then, passing between myrtles, began to descend the seaward
slope. The ground was rough, but the monk, going before, marked the
places for their footing. A few minutes thus, and they reached
trees, black against a sky sown with stars and overshimmered by a
wasted moon. Veranilda, who was trembling, clung to her companion's
arm.

'How much further?' asked Aurelia, striving to make her voice firm.
'This is not the way by which I came before.'

'Scarce fifty steps. See you not the light yonder?'

Among the trees was perceptible a faint shining. Hand tight clasped
in hand, the two moved forward over thick herbage, and still
descended. They drew near to the light, and saw that it issued from
a little cave. Within stood a man, bent as if with age and
infirmities, his face half-hidden under a cowl. When the visitors
were near, he stretched forth his arms, murmuring words of welcome,
and the two knelt devoutly before him.

There was a moment of silence, then the cowled man again spoke, in a
voice firmer and less senile.

'My daughters, you have come hither through the gloom of night and
over rough places, led by a faithful guide, whom you followed
without doubt or fear. You will have your reward. The darkness, the
stones that made your feet to stumble, what are these but symbols of
your spiritual state? In your blindness, you sought one blind as
yourselves, to follow whom was to walk in darkness eternal. But a
beneficent Power has watched over you, guiding your steps in the
better way, whereof you recked not.'

Aurelia and Veranilda had raised their heads, and were gazing at
him, in fearful astonishment.

'Be not troubled,' he went on, taking a step forward and speaking in
a voice strong and clear. 'Though unworthy, I am a priest of the
faith in which you, Aurelia, were baptized. In my hands you will
suffer no harm, no indignity. Be still, be silent. Behind you stand
those who will not permit you to flee, but who will conduct you
hence as if they were your own attendants if you do but follow me,
as you needs must, without cry or resistance.'

Aurelia turned and saw a number of figures whom the dim light showed
to be men with weapons. A moan of anguish escaped her lips. Clinging
to her in terrified silence, Veranilda seemed about to sink to the
ground.

'Our way,' pursued the priest, who was now revealed as neither old
nor infirm, 'is down to the harbour. Not far from here a litter
awaits you; summon your strength for the short effort over rugged
ground. Speak words of comfort to this maiden; she also will ere
long walk in the light, and will be grateful to those who rescued
her from the path of destruction. Think not to escape us when we
pass through the city; it were vain to cry aloud; not a man in
Surrentum would raise his hand to release you, knowing, as all do,
that we confine your body only to free your soul from the bonds of
the Enemy.'

'Whither are you taking us?' asked Aurelia, suddenly commanding
herself, and speaking with cold scorn.

'That you will know before the evening. Enough for the present that
you will travel without fatigue and without danger. Follow now
whither I lead.'

He moved forward, and the armed men, half a dozen in number, among
whom stood the black monk, closed about the prisoners. Seeing the
futility of any resistance, Aurelia whispered to her companion such
words of encouragement as she could find, and supported her with her
arms. But Veranilda had overcome the first terror which made her
droop.

'Basil will find and release us,' she whispered back. 'While he has
life, Basil will not forsake us.'

And with unfaltering steps she moved onward, holding Aurelia's hand.

Their path, illumined by lanterns, the guards presently issued from
the wood, and came to the place where the litter was waiting. Hence
the captives were borne rapidly towards the haven. As they entered
the city gates, Aurelia raised the curtain which concealed her, and
looked out at the men on watch; words exchanged between them and her
conductors only confirmed what the priest had said, and made her
understand that she was powerless amid enemies.

'Are we not to have a look at the Gothic beauty?' cried one fellow,
when the litter was passing.

'Peace!' answered the priest sternly; and nothing more was said.

Through the streets they were followed by a few persons. These,
calling to each other, collected at length a small crowd, which hung
about the litter when it reached the place of embarkation. Here
torches were burning; their red glare fell upon angry or mocking
faces, and every moment the crowd increased. With utmost speed the
prisoners were passed into a little boat, then rowed to a vessel
lying at the harbour mouth. As the ship hoisted sail, dawn began to
glimmer over the flank of Vesuvius.





CHAPTER IX

CHORSOMAN




Fearful of sleeping till after sunrise, Basil had bidden Felix
arouse him this morning; and, as he had much to talk of with
Veranilda, he betook himself to the garden very early.

Aurelia's watchman was standing without, gazing anxiously now this
way, now that, surprised by his mistress's failure to return; on the
appearance of Basil he withdrew, but only to a spot whence he could
survey the garden. All impatience, the lover waited, as minute after
minute slowly passed. Dawn was broadening to day, but Veranilda came
not. An agony of disappointment seized upon him, and he stood at
length in the attitude of one sickening with despair. Then a
footstep approached, and he saw the slave whose watch he had
relieved come forward with so strange a look that Basil could only
stare at him.

'My lord,' said the man, 'there is one at the gate of the villa who
brings I know not what news for you.'

'One at the gate? News?' echoed Basil, his heart sinking with dread
anticipation. 'What mean you, fellow?'

'Most noble, I know nothing,' stammered the frightened slave 'I
beseech your greatness to inquire. They say--I know not what--'

Basil sped across the garden and into Aurelia's dwelling. Here he
found a group of servants talking excitedly together; at view of
him, they fell back as if fear-stricken. From one, Aurelia's old
nurse, rose a wail of distress; upon her Basil rushed, grasped her
by the arm, and sternly demanded what had happened. Dropping to her
knees with a shrill cry, the woman declared that Aurelia had
vanished, that some one from the city had seen her carried away
before dawn.

'Alone?' asked Basil in a terrible voice.

'Lord, I know not,' wailed the woman, grovelling at his feet.

'Is Veranilda in her chamber?' he asked violently.

'Gone!' replied a faint voice from amid the group of servants.

'Where is this messenger?'

Without waiting for a reply, he sprang forward. In the portico which
led to the villa he heard his name shouted, and he knew the voice
for Marcian's; another moment and Marcian himself appeared, pale,
agitated.

'Why do you seek me?' cried Basil.

'You come from yonder? Have you seen Aurelia? Then it is true.'

Marcian told the news brought up from Surrentum by some person
unknown, who, having uttered it in the porter's ear, had at once
fled.

'Go call Venantius,' said Basil, when he had heard the brief story,
'and bring him straight to Aurelia's house. They are gone; that
slinking slave shall tell me how, or I will tear it out of him with
his soul.'

Back he rushed, and found the nurse still crouching on the floor,
wailing. He made her lead him to her lady's chamber, and to that of
Veranilda, where nothing unusual met their eyes. The watchman was
then summoned; he came like one half dead, and smote the ground with
his forehead before the young noble, who stood hand on dagger. A
fierce interrogatory elicited clear and truthful answers; when Basil
learned what Aurelia had whispered to her servant as she went forth,
he uttered a groan.

'Marcian! Venantius!' he cried, for at that moment the two entered
the atrium. 'I understand it all. Why had I no fear of this?'

That Aurelia had been deceived and inveigled by one professing to be
an Arian priest, seemed clear from the watchman's story. For the
originator of the plot, Basil had not far to look. This was the
vengeance of Petronilla. But whither the two captives would be
conveyed, was less easy to conjecture. Perhaps to Cumae. The thought
stung Basil to frenzy, for, if Veranilda once fell into the hands of
the Greeks, what hope had he of ever seeing her again?

'Did Petronilla know?' he asked of Marcian.

'Who can say?' answered his friend, easily understanding the
curtailed question. 'Like enough that she had sent to Cumae to learn
all she could; and in that case, she found, you may be sure, ready
instruments of her malice. Were it not better,' Marcian added in an
aside, 'to tell Venantius what danger threatened Veranilda?'

The warlike Roman, who, aroused on an alarm, had instantly equipped
himself with casque and sword, stood listening to what passed,
sniffing the air and rolling his eyes about as if he desired nothing
better than a conflict. The others now drew him aside into a more
private place, and made known to him their reason for fearing that
the Gothic maiden had been seized by emissaries from Cumae.

'Had I heard that story before,' said Venantius, all but laughing
with angry surprise, 'Veranilda would now be safe in my castle; for,
instead of lingering, I should have come straightway, to rescue her
and you. Holy Peter and Paul! You sported here, day after day,
knowing that the hounds of Justinian had scent of the maid you
carried away? You, Basil, might commit such folly, for you were
blinded to everything by your love. But, Marcian, how came you to
let him loll in his dream of security? Why did you conceal this from
me? By Castor! it was unfriendly as it was imprudent. You robbed me
of a sweet morsel when you denied me the chance of balking the
Greeks in such a matter as this. Nay, the bird is caged at Cumae, be
sure.'

Marcian's brows were knit, and his eyes cast down as he listened to
this reproof.

'I had not thought of Petronilla,' he murmured. 'But for her, the
danger was not pressing. That thick-skulled Hun at Cumae easily let
himself be blinded, as I told you.'

'How could I forget,' cried Basil, 'that Petronilla would risk
damnation rather than lose her vengeance upon Aurelia But,' he
added, with sudden change from gloom to vehemence, 'that woman is
not beyond our reach. Only yesterday did she set forth for Rome, and
she may have passed the night at Neapolis. A horseman will easily
overtake her. Felix!' he shouted. 'Our horses!--she shall pay for
this if my hands can get at her throat!'

Felix appeared, but not in answer to his master's summons; he came
precipitately, followed by a swarm of frightened slaves, to announce
another surprise. Before the villa stood a hostile multitude, folk
of Surrentum, who demanded admittance, and, if denied, would enter
by force. At this news Venantius hastened to muster his troop of
archers and spearmen. Basil and Marcian, having made sure that all
entrances were locked and barred, went to the front gate, and
through a wicket surveyed the assailants. These seemed to be mainly
of the baser class; they had armed themselves with all sorts of rude
weapons, which they brandished menacingly, shouting confused
maledictions. From the porter Basil learned that those who had first
presented themselves at the door had demanded that 'the heretics'
should be given up to them; and by listening to the cries, he
understood that the wrath of these people was directed against the
Arian servants brought hither by Aurelia. Through the wicket he held
colloquy with certain leaders of the throng.

'The heretics! Yield to us the accursed heretics!' shouted a burly
fellow armed with an ox-goad.

'For what usage?' asked Basil.

'That's as they choose. If they like to come before the bishop and
turn Christian--why, a little correction shall suffice. If not,
they have only themselves and the devil to blame.'

By this time Venantius and his retainers stood in the forecourt. To
him, the routing of such a rabble seemed a task not worth speaking
of, but some few would no doubt be slain, and Basil shrank from such
extremities.

'Would you give up these trembling wretches?' asked Venantius
scornfully, pointing to the four slaves, male and female, Arians
either by origin or by conversion to please Aurelia, whom she had
brought from Cumae. On their knees they were imploring protection.

'Nay, I will fight for their safety,' Basil answered. 'But if we can
frighten off this tag-rag without bloodshed so much the better.'

Venantius consented to make the attempt. On the upper villa was an
open gallery looking over the entrance, and fully visible from where
the invaders stood. Hither the armed men ascended and stood in line,
the bowmen with arrows on string. Their lord, advancing to the
parapet, made a signal demanding silence, and spoke in a audible to
every ear in the throng.

'Dogs! You came on this errand thinking that the villa was
defenceless. See your mistake! Each one of these behind me has more
arrows in store than all your number, and never shot bolt from bow
without piercing the mark. Off! Away with your foul odours and your
yelping throats! And if, when you have turned tail, any cur among
you dares to bark back that I, Venantius of Nuceria, am no true
Catholic, he shall pay for the lie with an arrow through chine and
gizzard!' This threat he confirmed with a terrific oath of
indisputable orthodoxy.

The effect was immediate. Back fell the first rank of rioters,
pressing against those in the rear; and without another cry, with
only a low, terrified growling and snarling, the crowd scattered in
flight.

'There again I see Petronilla,' declared Basil, watching the rout
with fierce eyes. 'I'll swear that, before starting, she set this
game afoot. I must after her, Venantius.'

'Alone?'

'Mother of God! if I had your men! But I will make soldiers of my
own. Some of the likeliest from our folk here shall follow me;
enough to stay that she-wolf's journey till I can choke the truth
out of her.'

Venantius, his eyes fixed on the descending road by which the rabble
had disappeared, caught sight of something which held him mute for a
moment. Then he gave a snort of surprise.

'What's this? There are no Greek soldiers in Surrentum.'

Yet unmistakable soldiers of the Imperial army were approaching.
First came into sight a commanding officer; he rode a little in
advance of the troop, which soon showed itself to consist of some
two score mounted men, armed with bows and swords. And in the rear
came the rabble of Surrentines, encouraged to return by this arrival
of armed authority.

'That is Chorsoman,' said Marcian, as soon as he could distinguish
the captain's feature, 'the commander at Cumae.'

'Then it is not to Cumae that they have carried her!' exclaimed
Basil, surmising at once that the Hun was come in pursuit of
Veranilda.

'Time enough to think of that,' growled Venantius, as he glared from
under black brows at the advancing horsemen. 'What are we to do? To
resist is war, and this villa cannot be held for an hour. Yet to
yield is most likely to be made prisoners. Marcian!'

Marcian was watching and listening with a look of anxious thought.
Appealed to for his counsel, he spoke decidedly.

'Withdraw your men and go down. Resistance is impossible. Chorsoman
must enter, but trust me to manage him. I answer for your liberty.'

Venantius led his men down to the inner court. Basil, careless of
everything but the thought that Veranilda was being borne far from
him, he knew not whither, went to get horses ready, that he might
pursue Petronilla as soon as the road was free. Marcian, having
spoken with the porter, waited till a thundering at the gate
announced Chorsoman's arrival, then had the doors thrown open, and
stood with a calm smile to meet the commander.

'Fair greeting to your Magnificence!' he began with courtesy. 'Be
welcome to this villa, where, in absence of its mistress, I take
upon myself to offer you hospitality.'

Chorsoman had dismounted, and stood with half a dozen of his
followers behind him in the portico. At sight of Marcian his face
became suspicious.

'By mistress,' he replied gruffly, stepping forward, 'I suppose you
mean the daughter of Maximus. Where is she?'

Marcian would have continued the conversation within, but the Hun
chose to remain standing in the for-court, the gate wide open. From
the Surrentines he had already heard the story of Aurelia's
disappearance, which puzzled and angered him, for no one professed
to be able to explain what had happened, yet his informants declared
that the Roman lady and the Gothic maiden had been carried away
without the knowledge of the men who were their protectors. This was
now repeated by Marcian, who professed himself overwhelmed by the
event.

'You have here one Basilius,' said Chorsoman.

'The same whom your greatness saw on a certain occasion at Cumae.'

'They tell me he was about to wed with Veranilda. What does that
mean?'

'An idle rumour,' replied Marcian, 'springing from vulgar gossip,
and from the spiteful anger of the lady sister of Maximus, who hoped
to inherit what has fallen to her niece. Let your valorous
magnificence be assured that there is no truth in it. Can you
imagine that I, whose mission is known to you, should have looked on
at such an audacity? I think your perspicuity will not require
better proof of the powers with which I am intrusted than that I
gave you at Cumae?'

Of the profound contempt proclaimed, rather than disguised, by
Marcian's extravagant courtesy, Chorsoman had no inkling; but his
barbaric mind resented the complexity of things with which it was
confronted, and he felt a strong inclination to take this
smooth-tongued Latin by the throat, so as to choke the plain truth
out of him. Why, he demanded fiercely, had not Aurelia and her
companion travelled straight on to Rome, as he had been assured they
were to do?

'For a simple reason,' answered Marcian. 'I judged an escort
necessary, and only yesterday did I obtain it. This very day should
we have set forth.'

'You speak of one Venantius and his followers--he who just now, I
am told, threatened to massacre the harmless citizens of Surrentum.'

'I would rather say the most noble Venantius, a senator, but for
whose presence this villa would have been sacked by a thievish
rabble from below.'

'Let me see him,' said the Hun, his eyes like those of a boar at
bay.

'Will it please your Illustrious Magnanimity to eat with us?'

'I will eat when I choose. Fetch here Venantius.'

Marcian despatched the porter, and in a few moments Venantius
appeared, behind him his armed men. A hand lightly on his sword, as
though he played with the hilt, his head proudly erect, the Roman
noble paused at a few paces from the Hun, and regarded him with bold
steadfastness.

'You serve the Emperor?' said Chorsoman, somewhat less overbearingly
than he had spoken hitherto.

'When occasion offers,' was the dry response.

On the Hun's countenance grew legible the calculation busying his
thought. At a glance he had taken the measure of Venantius, and
gauged the worth of the men behind him. A smile, which could not
mask its cunning, came on to his lips, and all of a sudden he
exchanged his truculence for amiability.

'Lord Venantius,' he said, laying an open palm on his own breast,
and then motioning with it towards the Roman, 'you and I, two men of
valour, can understand each other in few words. I am no talker'--
his narrow eyes glanced at Marcian--'nor are you. Tell me, if you
can, what has become of the lady Aurelia and of the Gothic maiden
who attended upon her.'

'Lord Chorsoman,' replied Venantius, 'I thought it was you who could
have answered that question. The ladies Aurelia and Veranilda have
this morning disappeared, and we judged it likely that they had been
enticed from the villa to be captured and borne to Cumae.'

'Who should have done that?'

'Emissaries of your own, we supposed.'

The Hun reflected.

'This man of words'--he nodded sideways at Marcian--'spoke of a
woman's malice. Explain to me.'

Venantius told what he knew of Petronilla's enmity, and the listener
had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion which to Basil had
been evident from the first. It was possible moreover, that Cumae
might be the place to which the captives had been conveyed, for
Chorsoman had left the fortress yesterday to come hither by way of
Neapolis, his reason for the expedition being news of Veranilda's
approaching marriage, brought to him by a fisherman who said he had
been paid by a person unknown. Did Petronilla, he next inquired,
know that Veranilda was to be sent to the East? To this Marcian
replied with a negative, adding:

'Unless your Illustrious Discretion have seen fit to spread abroad
what I imparted to your private ear.'

'My tongue is not so loose as yours,' was the Hun's rejoinder.

Again he reflected, with the result that he decided to send a
messenger at once to Cumae. Until news could be brought back he
should remain here in the villa. This intention he announced in a
tone abundantly significant, his hearers understanding that
Aurelia's property was now in hands not accustomed to relax their
grasp.

'Lord Venantius,' he added, 'as your escort is no longer needed, you
will wish, no doubt, to return forthwith to your own abode. It will
not be long before you have the occasion you desire of proving your
loyalty to the Emperor. Brave men both, we may presently fight side
by side. Let us sit at table together, and then good-speed!'

With a haughty glare Venantius heard this dismissal. A reply surged
into his throat, but he swallowed it again, remembering that more
than his personal safety was at stake.

'You will pardon me, lord,' he replied, 'if I do not stay to break
my fast. I am of impatient humour, and never willingly linger when a
journey is before me.'

'As you will,' said Chorsoman, with a slight knitting of his brows.
'You ride alone, I suppose?'

'The lord Basil, who starts for Rome, will give me his company as
far as our ways are one.'

Chorsoman gave a glance at the soldiers in his rear, then at
Marcian, and smiled grimly.

'I fear you must go without lord Basil. I shall have need of him.'

There was a very short silence; then Marcian spoke, with bland
decision.

'Commander, this cannot be. Basil carries letters of urgency to Rome
and Ravenna; letters which I would not intrust to any one else. Your
Sublimity will see that it is impossible to delay him.'

Teeth hard set, and eyes aflame, the Hun took a step forward. In the
same instant, Venantius laid a hand upon his sword, and, at the
gesture, his armed men looked to their weapons.

'Where is this Basil?' demanded Chorsoman.

'I will let him know if you wish to speak with him,' replied
Marcian.

'You shall be spared the trouble. Lord Venantius, bid your followers
retire and get their horses ready, whilst you and I go in search of
lord Basil. You will not refuse me your company for a few minutes?'

Cunning had again subdued the Hun's violence, and discretion
prevailed with the Roman. Together they passed through the atrium,
Chorsoman casting eager glances about him, and to the inner court;
but the followers of Venantius, obedient to a silent order, still
kept their position in face of the Greek soldiers, and this
Chorsoman knew.

'You understand,' said the Hun, when they were alone together, you,
a brave and honourable man, how my duty to the Emperor obliges me to
act. I, of course, take possession of this villa until Aurelia is
discovered. And, however important his mission, I cannot allow Basil
to depart without some security--you will understand that.'

The barbarous accent with which these sentences were uttered caused
Venantius almost as much disgust as the plundering purpose they
avowed.

'What security?' he asked.

Chorsoman named a large sum of money. As he spoke, Basil himself
appeared; and with brief preface, the matter under debate was
reported to him. He glanced at Venantius but could find no counsel
in the dark, stern face. Foreseeing the result of the Hun's visit,
Basil had hastened to conceal on his own person a considerable
weight of coin, and had intrusted something like the same amount to
Felix. In the treasure chamber lay a mass of wealth now belonging to
Aurelia, and the mere fact of this being under lock and key by no
means secured it against the commander's greed. Marcian came
forward, and hearing the talk of ransom, endeavoured to awe the Hun
into moderation, but with less success than he had had at Cumae. So
he led Basil aside, told him of the messenger sent to Cumae, as well
as of the inventions by which Chorsoman had been beguiled, and
counselled mere inaction until news came. Marcian then inquired of
the commander whether, in case Veranilda were found at Cumae, he
would permit her to be sent on to Rome under the escort already
provided; but to this Chorsoman vouchsafed no direct reply: he would
consider the matter.

Negotiations had reached this point when new visitors arrived, the
Bishop of Surrentum and presbyter Joannes. Though suffering much,
the good bishop had risen from bed as soon as the exciting events of
this morning had reached his ear His innocence of complicity in the
plot against Aurelia and Veranilda, no one who saw him could doubt;
with astonishment he had heard of the priests and their armed
attendants, and with indignation of the citizens' tumultuous
behaviour. What right or reason had folk to proclaim that Aurelia
was still a heretic, and that she should not have been allowed to
inherit property? Who, he asked severely, could read her heart? And
when inquiry made it too certain that all this angry feeling had
originated with Petronilla, the prelate shook his head sadly,
thinking more than he cared to say. Arrived at the villa, he first
of all learnt all he could as to the position of things (declaring
total ignorance when the Hun sought to examine him as to the
relations of Basil and Veranilda), then made earnest inquiry whether
there really were slaves here who professed Arianism. The four were
summoned; overcome with dread, they prostrated them selves, and
entreated the bishop to make them Catholics Having heard from them
that they all had been baptized (the Roman Church held the baptism
of Arians valid), he sent them apart for summary instruction by
Joannes, and afterwards laid his reconciling hands upon them. Thus
had the Church gained four members, and the good folk of Surrentum
lost a heretic-baiting.

With the proceedings of the Imperial commander the worthy cleric
could not interfere. He spoke privately with Basil, and betrayed, in
a gentle severity of mien, his suspicion of the young noble's state
of mind, but of this not a word fell from him; his concern seemed to
be solely with the lady Aurelia, regarding whom he would set every
possible inquiry on foot. He advised Basil not to leave the
neighbourhood for a day or two, and to communicate with him before
he went far. Gratefully Basil kissed the old man's hand. They never
met again. A week later the bishop was dead.

After all, Venantius sat at table with Chorsoman. Fuming, he waited
till the next morning, when, if the news could be believed, it
became certain that Aurelia and her companion were not at Cumae.
Basil, having no choice, then paid for ransom nearly all the money
he had secreted, and rode away with Venantius, purposing to remain
at Nuceria until joined by Marcian. Three days later Marcian
appeared at the castle He brought no intelligence of the lost
ladies. As for their abode, it had been thoroughly pillaged; the
treasure chamber was discovered and broken open; not a coin, not a
vessel or ornament which had its price, not a piece of silk, had
escaped the clutches of the Hun.

Chorsoman's departure was followed by an invasion of the
Surrentines, who robbed more grossly. A fire broke out in the house
of Proba, and much of that building was destroyed. In the once
magnificent villa there lurked but a few slaves, who knew not
whether their owner lived.





CHAPTER X

THE ANICIANS




Not many days after, in a still noontide of mellow autumn, Basil and
Marcian drew towards Rome. They rode along the Via Appia, between
the tombs of ancient men; all about them, undulant to the far
horizon, a brown wilderness dotted with ruins. Ruins of villas, of
farms, of temples, with here and there a church or a monastery that
told of the newer time. Olives in scant patches, a lost vineyard, a
speck of tilled soil, proved that men still laboured amid this vast
and awful silence, but rarely was a human figure visible. As they
approached the city, marshy ground and stagnant pools lay on either
hand, causing them to glance sadly at those great aqueducts, which
for ages had brought water into Rome from the hills and now stood
idle, cleft by the Goths during the siege four years ago.

They rode in silence, tired with their journey, occupied with heavy
or anxious thoughts. Basil, impatient to arrive, was generally a
little ahead. Their attendants numbered half a dozen men, among them
Felix and Sagaris, and two mules laden with packs came in the rear.
Earthworks and rough buildings of military purpose, again recalling
the twelve months' blockade, presently appeared; churches and
oratories told them they were passing the sacred ground of the
catacombs; then they crossed the little Almo, rode at a trot along a
hollow way, and saw before them the Appian Gate. Only a couple of
soldiers were on guard; these took a careless view of the
travellers, and let them pass without speaking.

Marcian rode up to his friend's side, and spoke softly.

'You have promised to be advised by me.'

Basil answered only with a dull nod.

'I will see her to-day,' continued the other, 'and will bring you
the news before I sleep.'

'Do so.'

No more words passed between them. On their left hand they saw the
Thermae of Caracalla, their external magnificence scarce touched by
decay, but waterless, desolate; in front rose the Caelian, covered
with edifices, many in ruin, and with neglected or altogether wild
gardens; the road along which they went was almost as silent as that
without the walls. Arrived at a certain point, the two looked at
each other and waved a hand; then Marcian, with Sagaris and one
other servant, pushed forward, whilst Basil, followed by the rest of
the train, took an ascending road to the right.

The house in which he was born, and where he alone now ruled, stood
on the summit of the Caelian. Before it stood the ruined temple of
Claudius, overlooking the Flavian Amphitheatre; behind it ranged the
great arches of the Neronian aqueduct; hard by were the round church
of St. Stephen and a monastery dedicated to St. Erasmus. By a
narrow, grass-grown road, between walls overhung with ivy, Basil
ascended the hill; but for the occasional bark of a dog, nothing
showed that these buildings of old time were inhabited; and when he
drew rein before his own portico, the cessation of the sound of
hoofs made a stillness like that among the Appian sepulchres.
Eyeless, hoary, with vegetation rooted here and there, the front of
the house gave no welcome. Having knocked, Basil had to wait for
some moments before there came a sign of opening. With drooped head,
he seemed to watch the lizards playing in the sunshine upon a marble
column.

A wicket opened, and at once there sounded from within an
exclamation of joyful surprise. After much clanking, the door
yielded, and an elderly servant, the freedman Eugenius, offered
greeting to his lord. Basil's first question was whether Decius had
been there; he learnt that his kinsman was now in the house, having
come yesterday to reside here from the Anician palace beyond the
Tiber.

'Tell him at once that I am here. Stay; I dare say he is in the
library. I will go to him.'

He passed through the atrium, adorned with ancestral busts and with
the consular fasces which for centuries had signified nothing,
through a room hung with tapestry and floored with fine mosaic,
through the central court, where the fountain was dry, and by a
colonnade reached the secluded room which was called library, though
few books remained out of the large collection once guarded here. In
a sunny embrasure, a codex open on his knees, sat the pale student;
seeing Basil, he started up in great surprise, and, when they had
embraced, regarded him anxiously.

'How is this? What has happened? Some calamity, I see.'

'Seek some word, O Decius, to utter more than that. I have suffered
worse than many deaths.'

'My best, my dearest Basil!' murmured the other tenderly. 'You have
lost her?'

'Lost her? yes; but not as you mean it. Is Petronilla in Rome?'

'She arrived the day before yesterday, two hours after sunset.'

'And you have seen her, talked with her?'

'I was at the house yonder when she came.'

'And she behaved ill to you?' asked Basil.

'Far from that, Petronilla overwhelmed me with affection and
courtesy. I knew not,' proceeded Decius smiling, 'how I had all at
once merited such attention. I came away merely because this
situation better suits my health. Down by the river I have never
been at ease. But let me hear what has befallen you.'

Basil told his story, beginning with the explanation of Veranilda's
importance in the eyes of the Greek commander. After learning from
the Hun that nothing was known of the lost ladies at Cumae, he had
impatiently lingered for three days in the castle of Venantius, on
the chance that Marcian might be able to test the truth of
Chorsoman's report; but his friend made no discovery, and in despair
he set out for Rome. To all this Decius listened with wonder and
with sympathy. He had no difficulty in crediting Petronilla with
such a plot, but thought she could scarce have executed it without
the help of some one in authority. Such a person, he added
cautiously, as a deacon of the Roman Church. Hereupon Basil
exclaimed that he and Marcian had had the same suspicion.

'I will find her,' he cried, 'if it cost me my life! And I will be
revenged upon those who have robbed me of her. She may at this
moment be in Rome. The ship that carried. her off was large enough,
they say, to make the voyage, and winds have been favourable. My
good Decius, I am so overcome with misery that I forget even to ask
how you sped on the sea.'

'A smooth and rapid voyage. I had only time to reperuse with care
the _Silvae_ of Statius--his Epicedion being appropriate to my
mood. Arrived at Portus, I sent a post to those who awaited the
ship's coming, and the remains of Maximus were brought with all due
honour to their resting place.'

'Was the deacon Leander here to receive you?' asked Basil.

'I learnt that he had not yet been heard of.'

They exchanged a significant look, and Basil remarked that he would
soon discover the deacon's movements since his leaving Surrentum.
Marcian was even now on his way to visit Petronilla, and would come
with news this evening.

'If I could know,' he cried, 'whether she has been delivered to the
Greeks, or is kept imprisoned by that Megaera! It may be that
Petronilla is ignorant of what I have told you; yet, if so, I fear
she will soon learn it, for Chorsoman will write--if the barbarian
can write--to Bessas, and cannot but mention her. There are
prisons in Rome for those who offend the tyrant of Byzantium.'

'It troubles me to hear you say that,' said Decius, with an anxious
glance.

'I, too, may be in peril, you think,' replied his kinsman gloomily.
'True, all the more that I am known to have just inherited. Bessas
takes a peculiar interest in such people. Be that as it will. Let us
turn for a moment to other things.'

They spoke of the duties that had to be discharged by Basil as his
uncle's heir. On the morrow he must assemble such of his kinsfolk as
were in Rome, and exhibit to them the testament. Aurelia's part in
it would of course excite discussion, perhaps serious objection;
whereas her disappearance would probably be regarded as a matter of
small moment, and Petronilla, even if suspected, could count on
sympathy. When he left the library, Basil found all the members of
his household, from the old nurse Aguella, whose privilege it was to
treat him with motherly affection, to the men who groomed his horse,
assembled outside to give him welcome. His character and bearing
were such as earn the good-will of dependents; though proud and
impatient, he never behaved harshly, and a service well rendered
often had its recognition. Among the young men of his rank, he was
notable for temperance in pleasures; his slaves regarded him as
above common temptations of the flesh, and, though this might be a
loss to them in one way, they boasted of it when talking to the
slaves of masters less exceptional. Having learnt from Felix that
their lord was heir of Maximus, the servants received him with even
more than wonted respect. One of them was the steward of his estate
in Picenum, who had arrived at Rome a few days ago; with him Basil
had private talk, received money which the man had brought, heard of
the multitudinous swine in his oak forest, and of the yield of his
fruit trees. That strip of the Adriatic coast south of Ancona had
always been famous for its pears and apples, and choice examples of
the fruit lay on Basil's table to-day. When he had supped, he
anxiously awaited the coming of Marcian. It was two hours after
nightfall before his friend appeared, having come in a litter, with
torch-bearing attendants, from the Palatine, where he had supped
with Bessas, the Greek commander.

The news he brought was disquieting. Bessas had just received
despatches from Cumae, which acquainted him with the story of
Veranilda's disappearance, so far as it was known to Chorsoman; he
wore a heavy brow about the business, swore that the Gothic damsel
should be found, if it cost the skins of all who had had anything to
do with her.

'I partly soothed the brute,' concluded Marcian, 'by telling him
that Petronilla was within such easy reach. Her he will summon
to-morrow.'

'You promised to see her,' said Basil impatiently.

'Do I often break my promises? I saw her before going even to my own
house, with the dust of the journey still upon me.'

'Ever kind Marcian?'

'Why so hasty to think me less than kind?' returned the other, with
his smile of sad irony. 'I saw her, though with difficulty. She kept
me waiting like an importunate poor kinsman, and when I was
received, she sat like the Empress giving audience. I did not touch
the earth with my forehead; nay, I stood looking at her with a look
she did not easily bear. That she is guilty, I am sure; I read
triumph in her eyes as soon as I spoke of Aurelia. That she would
deny all knowledge of the affair was only to be expected. Moreover,
she has taken possession of the great house yonder, and declares
that Aurelia, as a heretic, can claim nothing under her father's
will. You, of course, the heir, can expel her, if you think it worth
the trouble. But let us see the result of her conversation with
Bessas. She smiled disdainfully when I mentioned his name, and tried
to continue smiling when I carelessly explained the interest he had
in finding Veranilda; but she was frightened, I heard it in her
hoarse voice when she began to speak evil of Veranilda.'

'What!' cried Basil. 'Evil of Veranilda!'

'Such as naturally comes to the tongue of an angry woman.'

The lover raged, Marcian listening with a sad, half-absent look.
Their talk continued for a long time, arid, because of the lateness
of the hour, Marcian stayed to sleep in his friend's house. Before
sunrise on the morrow, Basil sent forth his invitations to all of
the Anician blood in Rome. The first to respond was Gordianus, whose
dwelling on the Clivus Scauri stood but a few minutes' walk away.
Though but a little older than Basil, Gordian had been for several
years a husband and a father; he was in much esteem for his worldly
qualities, and more highly regarded for the fervour of his religious
faith. A tall, handsome, dignified man, he looked straight before
him with frank eyes, and his lips told of spirit tempered by
kindliness. Between him and his relative no great intimacy existed,
for their modes of life and of thought were too dissimilar, but each
saw the good in the other, and was attracted by it. Not long ago
Gordian had conceived the project of giving his young sister
Aemiliana as wife to Basil. Maximus favoured this design, but his
nephew showed no eagerness to carry it out, and Roman gossip
presently found a reason for that. Among the leaders of fashion and
of pleasure--for fashion and pleasure did not fail to revive in
Rome soon after the horrors of the siege--shone a lady named
Heliodora, the Greek wife of a little-respected senator, who,
favoured by Bessas, rose to the position of City Prefect. With
Heliodora's character rumour made very free; the captives of her
beauty were said to be numerous, and one of the names mentioned by
those who loved such scandal was that of the young Basil. Gordian,
finding that there was some ground for this suspicion, spoke no more
of the suggested marriage, and it was at his instance that Maximus,
ill in Campania, summoned Basil away from the city. Reports from
Surrentum gave reason to hope that this measure had succeeded. But
to-day, as he entered Basil's house, Gordian's face wore a troubled
look, and there was no warmth in his response to the greeting which
met him.

'You have sent for me, my dear lord,' he began with grave and
distant courtesy, 'to speak of the matter of your inheritance.
Forgive me if I first of all ask you a question--of more intimate
concern. Is it true that you have taken a wife?'

Basil, in whom fatigue and misery had left little patience, began
quivering in every nerve, and made blunt answer:

'It is not true, arid she who told you contrived the lie.'

'You speak of the lady Petronilla,' pursued Gordian gently. 'Can I
think that she has wilfully deceived me?'

'Think it not, my lord Gordian,' returned the other; 'if Petronilla
told you I was married, she lied.'

'That is strange indeed. Listen, I pray you, to the story heard in
Rome since Petronilla returned. It is right that you should hear it
just as it comes from her own lips.'

Thereupon Gordian repeated a narrative which would have been
substantially true had it not crowned Basil's love with marriage.
The listener, shaken with violent passion, could scarce wait till
the end.

'And now hear _me_,' he cried. 'If I were prudent, I also should
lie, for the truth may be dangerous. But you shall know it, O
Gordian, and if you choose to harm me--'

The other raised a hand, and so full of dignity was this gesture, so
solemn the look which accompanied it, that Basil's vehemence felt
itself rebuked; he grew silent and listened.

'Basil, check your tongue, which I see will be your greatest peril.
Do not confide in me, for I know not whether I can respect your
confidence. Let us speak of other things.'

The younger man stood for a moment in hesitancy, his cheeks aflame,
his eyes fiercely gleaming.

'As you will,' he exclaimed, mastering himself. 'When the others are
here, you will learn all that it concerns you to know. Remember,
Gordian, that I would have opened my heart to you, for, whatever I
said, I know well that you are no betrayer. As for that woman--'

He was interrupted by the arrival of several persons, old and young,
who appeared in answer to his summons. Having received them with
colder courtesy than was natural to him, Basil produced the
testament of Maximus, and submitted it to his kinsmen's inspection.
The tablets passed from hand to hand; the signatures and seals of
the seven witnesses were examined, the contents read and discussed.
Meanwhile guests continued to arrive, until a considerable
gathering, which included several ladies, had assembled in the great
hall. Here was represented all that deemed itself best and most
illustrious in the society of Rome. More came than were expressly
invited; for, beyond the legitimate interest of the occasion,
curiosity had been aroused by the gossip of Petronilla, and some
whose connection with the Anician house was of the very slightest,
hastened to present themselves at Basil's door. Hither came men
whose names recalled the glories of the Republic; others who were
addressed by appellations which told of Greek dominion; alike they
claimed the dignity of Roman optimates, and deemed themselves
ornaments of an empire which would endure as long as the world.
Several ranked as senators; two or three were ex-consuls; ten years
ago the last consul of Rome had laid down his shadowy honours; one
had held the office of Praetorian Prefect when Theodoric was king;
yet, from the political point of view, all were now as powerless as
their own slaves. Wealth a few of them still possessed, but with no
security; a rapacious Byzantine official, the accident of war, might
at any moment strip them of all they had. For the most part they had
already sunk to poverty, if not to indigence; among these
aristocratic faces were more than one which bore the mark of
privation. Those who had little means or none lived as parasites of
more fortunate relatives; though beggars, they housed in palaces--
palaces, it is true, which had often no more comfort within their
marble walls than the insulae where the ignoble laid their heads.

When all had perused the will, Basil rose up and addressed them. He
began by a seemingly careless allusion to the tattle about himself,
which, as it appeared, had been started in Rome by some one who
wished him ill. The serious matter of which he had to speak regarded
the daughter of Maximus. No one here, of course, would be inclined
to take up the defence of Aurelia, whose history was known to all,
he would merely make known to them that after having abjured her
religious errors, and when living quietly in the Surrentine villa,
she had been treacherously seized and carried off he knew not
whither. It was not difficult to surmise by whom this plot had been
laid, but he would leave that point for his hearers' discussion. Him
it chiefly concerned to make known the strange facts so far as he
knew them; and this he proceeded to do. Basil concluded with
sarcastic reference to the possibility that he, as heir, might be
openly or secretly suspected of having laid hands upon Aurelia; that
point also he left to be debated by such as thought it worth while.

Only some two or three of those who listened had any personal
interest in the will, and few cared at all for the fate of Aurelia;
but the lady at whom Basil's innuendo pointed enjoyed no great
favour, and her absence from this family gathering made it possible
to discuss with all freedom the likelihood of her culpability. At
Basil himself no suspicion glanced, but the rumour of his marriage
with a Goth had excited much curiosity, hardly appeased by a whisper
that Gordian declared the story false. Having spoken all he thought
fit to say, Basil was going apart with the persons to whom legacies
had been left, he, as heir, being charged with the execution of the
will, when Gordian approached him, and begged for a word in private.

'I would not have you think me unkind, dear Basil,' he said, in a
gentle voice. 'It was neither the place nor the moment to hear
secrets from you, and I am glad now that I refused to listen; but be
assured that I put faith in what you have declared to us.'

'It is well, dear Gordian,' replied Basil frankly.

'One word I will add,' continued the other. 'If you are troubled
about things of the world, if you lack counsel such as you think a
friend might give, delay not in coming to me. I should not speak
thus confidently did I speak of myself alone; but there is one ever
at my side, who with her wisdom--sometimes I think it divinely
bestowed--supplies the weakness of my own understanding. Guided by
her, I cannot counsel you amiss.'

They parted with an embrace, and Basil turned to the business of the
moment. This occupied him until nearly mid-day. As he took leave of
the last of his guests, there entered Marcian; his coming surprised
Basil, for they had parted at early morning not to meet again before
the morrow.

'I bring you an invitation,' said Marcian, in a careless tone, which
was not quite natural. 'It is to the Palatine, after dinner.'

'To the Palatine? I am summoned by Bessas?'

'In a friendly way. Have no anxiety. Petronilla has been examined
this morning, and, from what I can gather, she seems to have
betrayed herself. Bessas wore the smile which means that he has
over-reached somebody.'

'Then we shall find her,' exclaimed Basil.

'They will find her, I doubt not,' was the reply.

The meal being ready, they sat down to eat together, but their
appetite was small. Decius, who had wearied himself this morning in
finding discreet answers to the questions with which he was
privately assailed by his kinsfolk, did not come to table. Having
dined, Basil and his friend set forth on foot, half a dozen servants
walking behind them. Midway in the descent of the Caelian, they were
met by an odd procession: a beautiful boy of some twelve years old,
clad in yellow, riding upon a small white ass with rich housings,
and behind him three slaves, dark-visaged men of the East, on mules
of great size, caparisoned with yellow cloth, to which hung
innumerable tinkling bells. At sight of Basil, the child drew rein;
jumped down, and ran forward with smiling demonstrations of respect.

'What is it, Laetus?' asked Basil, with no welcome upon his sombre
countenance. 'I cannot talk with you now.'

The boy, who had been sold into slavery from the far island of the
Angles, did but smatter the Roman tongue. With a few words to
signify that his message was important, he delivered a letter, and
Basil, turning aside impatiently, broke the seal. Upon the blank
side of a slip of papyrus cut from some old manuscript were written
lines which seemed to be in Greek, and proved to be Latin in Greek
characters, a foppery beginning to be used by the modish at Rome.

'Heliodora to Basil. You are bidden to supper. Come if you will. If
you come not, I care not.'

'Say that I gave you no reply,' were Basil's blunt words, as he
walked on past the ass and the mules.





CHAPTER XI

SEEKING




They passed beneath the walls of the amphitheatre and by
Constantine's triumphal arch. Like all the innumerable fountains of
the city, the Meta Sudans stood dry; around the base of the rayed
colossus of Apollo, goats were browsing. Thence they went along by
the Temple of Venus and Rome, its giant columns yet unshaken, its
roof gleaming with gilded bronze; and so under the Arch of Titus,
when, with a sharp turn to the left, they began the ascent of the
Palatine.

The vast buildings which covered the Imperial hill, though
discoloured by the lapse of ages and hung with ivy, had suffered
little diminution of their external majesty; time had made them
venerable, but had not shattered their walls. For two centuries and
a half, they had stood all but desolate, and within that time had
thrice been sacked by barbarians, yet something of the riches and
art which made their ancient glory was still discoverable in the
countless halls and chambers; statues, busts, mural paintings,
triumphs of mosaic, pictured hangings, had in many parts escaped the
spoiler and survived ruin; whilst everywhere appeared the
magnificence of rare stones, the splendours of royal architecture,
the beauty of unsurpassed carving. Though owls nested where
empresses were wont to sleep, and nettles pierced where the lord of
the world feasted his courtiers, this was still the Palace of those
who styled themselves Ever August; each echo seemed to repeat an
immortal name, and in every gallery seemed to move the shadows of a
majestic presence.

Belisarius had not resided here, preferring for his abode the palace
of the Pincian. His successor in the military government of Rome
chose a habitation on the deserted hill, in that portion of its
complex structures which had been raised by Vespasian and his sons.
Thither the two visitors were now directing their steps. Having
passed a gateway, where Marcian answered with a watchword the
challenge of the guard, they ascended a broad flight of stairs, and
stood before an entrance flanked with two great pillars of Numidian
marble, toned by time to a hue of richest orange. Here stood
soldiers, to whom again the password was given. Entering, they
beheld a great hall, surrounded by a colonnade of the Corinthian
order, whereon had been lavished exquisite carving; in niches behind
the columns stood statues in basalt, thrice the size of life,
representing Roman emperors, and at the far end was a tribune with a
marble throne. This, once the hall of audience, at present served as
a sort of antechamber; here and there loitered a little group of
citizens, some of whom had been waiting since early morning for
speech with the commander; in one corner, soldiers played at dice,
in another a notary was writing at a table before which stood two
ecclesiastics. Voices and footsteps made a faint, confused
reverberation under the immense vault.

Anxiously glancing about him, Basil followed his conductor across
the hall and out into a peristyle, its pavement richly tesselated,
and the portico, still elaborately adorned with work in metal and in
marble, giving proof of still greater magnificence in bygone time;
pedestals had lost their statues, and blank spaces on the wall told
of precious panelling torn off. Beyond, they came to a curtained
doorway, where they were detained for some moments by the sentry;
then the curtain was drawn aside, and Basil found himself in the
triclinium of the Flavian palace, now used by the Greek general as
his public reception room. Its size was not much less than that of
the hall of audience; its decoration in the same grandiose style.
Enormous pillars of granite supported the roof; statues stood, or
had stood, all around; the pavement, composed of serpentine,
porphyry, and Numidian marble in many hues, was a superb work of
art. But Basil saw only the human figures before him. In a chair
covered with furs sat a man of middle age, robust,
fair-complexioned, with a keen look in his pale blue eyes and
something of the wolfish about his mouth. Bessas had long ago given
proof of valour, and enjoyed repute as a general, but since his
holding command in Rome, his vices, chief of which was avarice,
showed much more prominently than the virtues which had advanced
him; he used the Imperial authority chiefly to enrich himself, in
this respect, it is true, merely acting in harmony with the
Emperor's representative at Ravenna, and with: the other Greek
generals scattered about Italy, but exhibiting in his methods a
shrewdness and an inhumanity not easily rivalled. Behind his chair
stood several subordinates, and on a stool before him sat a noble
recently arrived as envoy from Byzantium.

Having been previously instructed as to his behaviour in this
redoubtable presence, Basil followed the example of Marcian in
approaching with bent head to within a distance of three paces, then
dropping to his knees, and bowing so as almost to touch the ground
with his forehead. He heard a gruff voice command him to rise.

'So this is the heir of the Senator Maximus,' said Bessas, much as
he might have spoken of viewing a horse that interested him. 'What
is his name?'

'Basilius, my lord,' replied Marcian, with grave respect.

'And what is he doing? Why does not a limber lad like that serve the
Emperor?'

'Your Magnanimity will recollect that the lord Basil had permission
to attend Maximus into Campania, whence he is but now returned.'

'Can't he speak for himself?' growled Bessas, turning sharply upon
Marcian. 'You have a tongue, lord Basil? Do you only use it among
the wenches?'

A subdued laugh sounded behind the commander's chair. The envoy from
Byzantium showed more discreet appreciation of the jest. And Basil,
his head bowed, would fain have concealed a face burning with angry
shame.

'I will do my best,' he replied in a steady voice, 'to answer any
question your excellence may put to me.'

'Come, that's better,' said the general, with that affectation of
bluff good-nature which always veiled his designs. 'I like the look
of you, my good Basil; who knows but we may be friends? By the bye,
was there not some special reason for your coming to see me?'

'Your excellence summoned me.'

'Yes, yes, I remember. That affair of the Gothic wench.' Bessas
checked himself, glanced at the envoy, and corrected his phrase.
'The Gothic lady, I would say, who has somehow been spirited out of
sight. What can you tell us of her, lord Basil? It has been
whispered to me that if you cannot lead us to this beauty's
hiding-place, nobody can.'

Basil answered in the only way consistent with prudence: he not only
denied all knowledge of where Veranilda was to be found, but spoke
as though her fate had little or no interest for him, whereas he
professed himself greatly troubled by the disappearance of his
cousin Aurelia. It seemed that Petronilla did not purpose delivering
Veranilda to the Greeks. Perhaps she did not yet understand the
import of their inquiry. That it was she who held Veranilda prisoner
he had less doubt than ever, and boldly he declared his conviction.
But even, whilst speaking, he thought with dread of the possibility
of Veranilda's being delivered to Bessas; for who could assure him
that this sinister-looking Thracian would respect the mandate
received from Byzantium? On the other hand, who could say to what
sufferings and perils his beloved was exposed whilst Petronilla's
captive? He preferred the risks to follow upon her surrender. Did he
but know where she was there would at least be a hope of rescuing
her.

'By Christ!' exclaimed Bessas, when he had listened intently to all
Basil's replies, 'this is a strange business. I begin to think,
excellent lord Basil, that you are as much deceived in your
suspicions of the lady Petronilla as she is in her suspicions of
you. These two wenches--ladies, I would say--may have reasons of
their own for hiding; or somebody of whom you know nothing may have
carried them off. How is this Aurelia to look upon? Young and
comely, I warrant.'

Basil briefly described his cousin; whereupon the listener gave a
shrug.

'We will talk of it again, to-morrow or the day after. Hold yourself
in readiness, lord Basil--you hear?--to come when bidden. And,
hark you, bring the senator's will, that I may look it over myself.
Trust me, I will see that this lady Aurelia suffers no wrong; if
necessary, I will myself hold her property in trust. They tell me
she is a heretic--that must be inquired into. But take no thought
for the matter, my good Basil; trust me, you shall be relieved from
all responsibilities. Go in peace!'

Bessas rose, impatient to have done with business. In the little
hippodrome, hard by, an entertainment had been prepared for this
afternoon: female equestrians were to perform perilous feats; there
was to be a fight between a man and a boar; with other trifles, such
as served to pass the time till dinner. In the entrance hall waited
messengers from Ravenna, who for hours had urgently requested
audience; but, partly because he knew that their despatches would be
disagreeable, in part because he liked playing at royalty, the
commander put them off till to-morrow. Even so did he postpone an
inspection of a certain part of the city wall, repeatedly suggested
to him by one of his subordinates. Leisure and accumulation of
wealth were obscuring the man's soldierly qualities. He gave little
heed to the progress of the war, and scoffed at the fear that Totila
might ere long march against Rome.

Basil walked in gloomy silence. The interview had inflamed his
pride. Mentally he repeated the oath never to acquiesce in this
Byzantine tyranny, and he burned for the opportunity of open war
against it. When they were at a safe distance from the Palatine,
Marcian warned his friend against the Greek's indulgent manner; let
him not suppose that Bessas spoke one word sincerely.

'His aim at present, I see, is to put you off your guard; and
doubtless he is playing the like game with Petronilla. You will be
spied upon, day and night--I myself, you understand, being one of
the spies, but only one, unfortunately. This Thracian is not so easy
to deal with as the Hun at Cumae. There have been moments when I
thought he suspected me. If ever I vanish, Basil--'

He ceased with a significant look.

'Why does Totila delay?' exclaimed Basil, with a passionate gesture.

'He delays not. It is wisdom to conquer Campania before coming
hither. Another month will see him before Neapolis.'

'Could I but find Veranilda, make her my own, and put her in safety,
I would go straight to the king's camp, and serve him as best I
might.'

Marcian looked steadily at the speaker, smiling strangely.

'Why do you look at me so?' cried Basil. 'You doubt me? You distrust
my courage?'

'Not for a moment. But why should this depend upon the finding of
Veranilda, my best Basil? Having found her, having made her your
own, will it be easier than now to take your chance of death or of
captivity? When was a Roman wont to let his country's good wait upon
his amorous desire?'

They were on the Sacred Way, between the Basilica of Constantine and
the Atrium of Vesta. Struck to the heart by his friend's words,
words such as Marcian had never yet addressed to him, Basil stood
mute and let his eyes wander: he gazed at the Forum, at the temples
beyond it, at the Capitol with its desecrated sanctuary of Jupiter
towering above. Here, where the citizens once thronged about their
business and their pleasure, only a few idlers were in view, a few
peasants with carts, and a drove of bullocks just come in from the
country.

'You would have me forget her?' he said at length, in a voice
distressfully subdued.

'I spoke only as I thought.'

'And your thought condemned me--despised me, Marcian?'

'Not so. Pitied you rather, as one whose noble nature has fallen
into trammels. Have you not long known, O Basil, how I think of the
thing called love?'

'Because you have never known it!' exclaimed Basil. 'My love is my
life. Having lost Veranilda, I have lost myself; without her I can
do nothing. Were she dead I could fling myself into the struggle
with our enemies, all the fiercer because I should care not whether
I lived or died; but to lose her thus, to know that she may be in
Rome, longing for me as I for her--to think that we may never hold
each other's hands again--oh, it tears my heart, and makes me weak
as a child. You cannot understand me; you have never loved!'

'May such knowledge be far from me!' said Marcian, with unwonted
vehemence. 'Do you feel no shame in being so subdued to the flesh?'

'Shame? Shame in the thought that I love Veranilda?'

Marcian seemed to make an effort to control a passion that wrought
in him; he was paler than of wont, and, instead of the familiar
irony, a cold, if not cruel, austerity appeared in his eyes and on
his lips. He shunned Basil's astonished gaze.

'Let us not speak of this,' broke from him impatiently. 'You
understand me as little as I you. Forgive me, Basil--I have been
talking idly--I scarce know what I said. It is sometimes thus with
me. Something takes hold upon me, and I speak at random. Come, come,
dear friend of my heart, we will find your Veranilda; trust me, we
will.'

Three days went by, then Basil was summoned again to the Palatine,
where he had an interview with Bessas alone. This time the commander
hardly spoke of Veranilda; his talk was of the possessions left by
Maximus, whose testament, when he had read it, he said that he would
take care of until the lost daughter was discovered; he inquired
closely, too, as to Basil's own wealth, and let fall a remark that
the Roman nobles would soon be called upon to support the army
fighting for their liberties against the barbarians. When next
called, let Basil have ready and bring with him an exact statement
of the money in his hands, and of the income he expected to derive
from his property during the present year. Thereupon he was
dismissed with a nod and a smile, which made him quiver in rage for
an hour after. This happened in early morning. The day was overcast,
and a cold wind blew from the mountains; Basil had never known such
misery as fell upon him when he re-entered his gloomy, silent house.
On the way home he had passed two funerals--their hurried aspect
proving that the dead were victims of the plague, that _lues
inguinaria_ which had broken out in Italy two years ago, and with
varying intensity continued throughout the land. Throwing himself
down upon a couch, he moaned in utter wretchedness, fearful of the
pestilence, yet saying to himself that he cared not if it seized
upon him. His moans became sobs; he wept for a long time, then lay,
half soothed by the burst of hysterical passion, with eyes turned
blankly to the ceiling and a hand clenched upon. his breast.

In his solitude he often talked with Felix, and more intimately
perhaps than with either Decius or Marcian. This trusty servant held
communication with a man in the household of Petronilla, and from
him learnt what he could as to the lady's movements; but nothing was
as yet discoverable which threw light on the mystery of Aurelia and
Veranilda. To-day, however, Felix returned from the other side of
the Tiber with what sounded like important news. Petronilla had left
home this morning in her carriage, had gone forth from the city by
one of the southern gates, and, after an absence of two or three
hours, had returned, bringing with her some one, a woman, whom she
took into her house and kept there in privacy. He who related this
to Felix declared that his mistress had only visited the church of
her patron saint on the Via Ardeatina, but who the woman might be
that she had brought back with her, he did not pretend to know. This
story so excited Basil that he would have hastened forthwith across
the Tiber, had not Felix persuaded him that at this late hour
nothing could be done. After a sleepless night he set out at
sunrise, accompanied by Felix alone. Whether he would be admitted at
Petronilla's door was quite uncertain; in any case, it would serve
no purpose to go thither with a band of attendants, for the Anician
house was sure to be strongly guarded. All he could do was to
present himself in the hope of seeing Petronilla, and take his
chance of learning something from her when they stood face to face.

On horseback he went down by the Clivus Scauri, followed the road
between the Circus Maximus and the Aventine, crossed the river by
the Aemilian bridge (the nearer bridge of Probus was falling into
ruins), and then turned to the left. This part of the transtiberine
district was inhabited by poor folk. Something unusual seemed to
have happened among them just now: groups stood about in eager talk,
and a little further on, in front of a church, a noisy crowd was
assembled, with soldiers among them. Having made inquiry, Felix
explained the disturbance to his master. It was due to the rapacity
of the Greek commander, who, scorning no gain, however small, was
seizing upon the funds of the trade guilds; this morning the common
chest of the potters had been pillaged, not without resistance,
which resulted in the death of a soldier; the slayer had fled to St.
Cecilia's church, and taken sanctuary. Basil's feeling, as he
listened, was one of renewed bitterness against the Greeks; but to
the potters themselves he gave little thought, such folk and their
wrongs appearing of small moment to one of his birth.

Pursuing the road towards the Portuensian Gate, he was soon in sight
of the palace where for generations had dwelt the heads of the
Anician family. It lay on a gentle slope above the river, at the
foot of the Janiculan Hill; around it spread public porticoes, much
decayed, and what had once been ornamental gardens, now the pasture
of goats. As Basil had expected, he was kept waiting without the
doors until the porter had received orders regarding him. Permitted
at length to enter, he passed by a number of slaves who stood, as if
on guard, in the atrium, and, though seeming to be alone in the room
beyond, he heard subdued voices from behind the curtains of the
doorways, which told him that he was under observation. All parts of
this great house were perfectly familiar to him, and had it been
possible to conduct a search, he would soon have ascertained whether
she he sought was kept imprisoned here; but, unless he took the
place by storm, how could he hope to make any discovery? Whilst he
was impatiently reflecting, Petronilla entered. She moved towards
him with her wonted dignity of mien, but in the look with which she
examined him, as she paused at two paces' distance, it was easy to
perceive distrust, and a certain inquietude.

'Your leisure at length permits you to visit me, dear lord Basil,'
she began coldly.

'My leisure, indeed,' he replied, 'has not been great since the day
on which you left Surrentum. But the more plainly we speak to each
other the better. I come now to ask whether you will release
Veranilda to me, instead of waiting until you are compelled to
release her to the Greeks.'

Before replying, Petronilla clapped her hands, then stood waiting
for a moment, and said at length:

'You can now speak without hearers. I did not think you would be so
imprudent in your words. Go on: say what you will.'

She seated herself, and looked at Basil with a contemptuous smile.
He, surprised by her behaviour, spoke on with angry carelessness.

'I neither cared before, nor do I now, if any of your servants
overhear me. No more credit would be given to anything they told of
me than is given to what you yourself say I might begin by warning
you of the dangers to which you are exposed, but no doubt you have
calculated them, and think the price not too much to pay for your
revenge. Well, with your revenge I have no wish to interfere. Hold
Aurelia prisoner as long as you will, or as long as you can. I speak
only of Veranilda, against whom you can feel no enmity. Will you
release her to me? It will only be anticipating by a few days her
release to Bessas. Veranilda in his hands, trust me, he will care
little what becomes of Aurelia.'

'I listen to you,' replied Petronilla, 'because I am curious to
learn into what extravagances your ignoble passion drives you. I had
been told, but could hardly believe, that you charged me with having
seized these women. Now I see that you really are foolish enough to
think it.' She threw her head back in a silent laugh of scorn.
'Child--for you are a child in wit though man in years--do you
not live at large in Rome, free to come and go as you will?'

'What of that?'

'Am not I also a free woman? Did I not yesterday visit the church of
the blessed Petronilla, and might I not, if so I had willed, have
escaped instead of returning to the city?'

'What has this to do with the matter?' demanded Basil.

'Child! child!' cried the other, as if with boundless contempt. 'You
ask that, knowing why this Veranilda is sought by the Greeks? Were
they truly still in search of her, and were you, were I, suspected
of keeping her hidden, do you suppose we should be free, and not
rather locked as close as any prison in Rome could hold us?'

The listener stood mute. So vehement was Petronilla's speech, and so
convincing, thus delivered, seemed her argument, that Basil felt his
heart sink. Had she, then, outwitted him? Was he really playing the
part of a simpleton, at whom people laughed? He remembered the
seeming indifference of Bessas touching Veranilda at the second
interview, natural enough if the maiden had already passed into the
Greek's hands. Two days ago Marcian had told him that Petronilla
must needs be aware of Veranilda's importance, seeing that it was
now common knowledge in Roman society. But a thought flashed into
his mind, and he lifted up his head again.

'This is not true!' he exclaimed. 'If Bessas had found her, I should
have known it.'

'Pray, how? Does your foolish little lordship imagine that Bessas
must needs have told you all he has done?'

'Bessas? no,' he answered, his eyes burning with hatred as they
searched her face. 'But I have other means of learning the truth.
You try vainly to deceive me.'

'As you will, good nephew,' said the lady, as if indulgently.
'Believe as you list, and talk on, for you entertain me.'

'One thing I have to say,' pursued Basil, 'which you will perhaps
find less amusing.' He had lost control of himself, and spoke in a
low tone of fierce menace, all his body quivering. 'If I learn that
Veranilda is in the hands of the Greeks, and that _you_ delivered
her to them--by the God above us, your life shall pay for it.'

Petronilla's face hardened till its cruel sternness outdid any
expression of hatred possible to Basil's features.

'Keep your ruffian threats for more suitable occasion, such as you
will find among your friends the Goths.' She spoke coldly and
deliberately. 'If enslavement to a yellow. haired barbarian had not
muddled your wits, you would long ago have seen who it was that has
played you false.'

Basil stared at her, his passion chilled with surprise and alarm.

'Played me false!' he echoed involuntarily.

'Who is it,' continued Petronilla with slow scorn, 'that you have
trusted blindly? To whom have you looked for guidance and
protection? Who has fostered your suspicion against _me_?'

An intolerable pang went through the listener's heart.

'That's but another lie!' he exclaimed furiously. 'O basest of women
born!'

A hand was upon his dagger. Petronilla rose and stepped back a
little, glancing towards one of the drawn curtains.

'You have threatened my life,' she said in an undertone. 'Remember
that it is you who are in my power. If I raise my voice on one word,
the next moment you will lie pierced by a score of weapons. Moderate
your insults: my temper is not meek.'

Basil thought for a moment with painful intentness.

'Speak plainly,' he said at length. 'You would have me suspect--?
I am ashamed to utter the name.'

'Keep it to yourself and muse upon it.'

'You dare bid me think that he, my dearest and most loyal friend,
has infamously betrayed me? Now I know indeed that you have lied to
me in every word, for this is the last audacity of baseness. You
hope to poison my soul against him, and so, whilst guarding
yourself, bring more evil upon those you hate. But you have
overreached yourself. Only cunning driven desperate could have
devised this trick. Listen to me again, before it is too late. Give
me Veranilda. I take upon myself all the peril. It shall be made to
appear that I have all along kept her in hiding, and that you knew
nothing of her. Be advised before the worst comes upon you. I will
escape with her to a place of safety that I know of; _you_ will be
declared innocent, and no one will care to ask what has become of
Aurelia. Think well; you spoke of prisons, but the Greeks have worse
than imprisonment for those who incur their wrath. Will Bessas
forego revenge when, after much trouble, he has wrested the captive
from your hands? Think!'

Petronilla's countenance, fixed as a face in marble, still suggested
no thought save one of scorn; but there was a brief silence before
she replied.

'I would not have believed,' she said calmly, 'that a man could be
so besotted with foolish passions. Listen, you in turn. Where those
women are, I know as little as do you yourself. I think, and have
good reason for thinking, that the Goth is already on her way to
Constantinople, but I have no certainty of it. The one thing I do
surely know, is that you are hoodwinked and baffled by the man you
trust.'

A groan of rage and anguish broke from Basil. He wrung his bands
together.

'You lie! A thousand times you lie! Either Veranilda or Aurelia is
in this house. Who was it you brought back with you yesterday when
you returned from beyond the walls?'

The listener uttered a short, fierce laugh.

'So that is what brought you here? O fool! Think you I should have
no more wisdom than that? Since you must needs pry into my doings
yesterday, you shall hear them. I went to the church of the holy
Petronilla, to pray there against all the dangers that environ me--
against the wiles of the wicked, the cruelty of violent men, the
sickness which is rife about us. And when I rose from before the
altar, the servant of God who passes his life there, who is pleased
to regard me with kindness, led me apart into the sacristy, where
sat a woman who had lost her sight. She had travelled, he told me,
from Mediolanum, because of a vision in which she had been bidden to
seek the tomb of the daughter of the chief Apostle; and, whilst
praying in the church, her darkness had been illumined by a vision
of the saint herself, who bade her go into the city, and abide in
the house of the first who offered her welcome, and there at length
she would surely receive her sight. So I spoke with the woman, who,
though in poverty, is of noble blood, and when I had offered to make
her welcome, she gladly came with me, and straightway we returned to
Rome. And I brought with me oil from the lamp of the saint,
wherewith, at the hours of prayer, I cross my forehead, that no evil
may befall me. So, you have heard. Believe or not, as you list, O
Basil.'

Whether true or not, Basil had no choice but to accept the story. He
looked helplessly about him. If by killing this woman he could have
obtained liberty to search through every chamber of the great house,
his dagger would have leapt at her breast; and that Petronilla well
knew; whence the defiant look in her eyes as they watched his
slightest movement.

'What is your next question?' she said. 'I am at leisure for a
little longer.'

'If Veranilda is in the hands of the Greeks, where is Aurelia?'

'I should be glad to think,' replied the lady, 'that she has
withdrawn from the world to expiate her sins.'

'Would you have me believe that Marcian knows that secret also?'

'I respect your innocence,' answered Petronilla, with a smile, 'and
will say no more.'

Again Basil stood for a moment voiceless in wrath. Then he threw up
an arm, and spoke with terrible vehemence.

'Woman, if you have lied to me, wickedly seeking to put enmity
between me and my friend, may the pest smite you, and may you perish
unforgiven of man and God!'

Petronilla blanched not. For one instant he glared at her, and was
gone.





CHAPTER XII

HELIODORA




Marcian's abode was in the Via Lata, the thoroughfare which ran
straight and broad, directly northwards, from the Capitoline Hill to
the Flaminian Gate. Hard by were the headquarters of the city watch,
a vast building, now tenanted by a few functionaries whose authority
had fallen into contempt; and that long colonnade of Hadrian, called
the Septa, where merchants once exposed their jewels and fabrics to
the crowd of sauntering wealthy, and where nowadays a few vendors of
slaves did their business amid the crumbling columns. Surrounded by
these monuments of antiquity, the few private residences still
inhabited had a dreary, if not a mean, aspect. Some of them--and
Marcian's dwelling was one--had been built in latter times with
material taken from temple or portico or palace in ruins; thus they
combined richness of detail with insignificant or clumsy
architecture. An earthquake of a few years ago, followed by a great
inundation of the Tiber, had wrought disaster among these modern
structures. A pillar of Marcian's porch, broken into three pieces,
had ever since been lying before the house, and a marble frieze,
superb carving of the Antonine age, which ran across the facade,
showed gaps where pieces had been shattered away.

His family, active in public services under Theodoric, had suffered
great losses in the early years of the war; and Marcian, who, as a
very young man, held a post under the Praetorian Prefect at Ravenna,
found himself reduced to narrow circumstances. After the fall of
Ravenna, he came to Rome (accompanied on the journey by Basil, with
whom his intimacy then began), and ere long, necessity driving him
to expedients for which he had no natural inclination, he entered
upon that life of double treachery which he had avowed to his
friend. As the world went, Marcian was an honest man: he kept before
him an ideal of personal rectitude; he believed himself, and
hitherto with reason, incapable of falsity to those who trusted him
in the relations of private life. Moreover, he had a sense of
religion, which at times, taking the form of an overpowering sense
of sin, plunged him into gloom. Though burdened in conscience with
no crime, he was subject in a notable degree to that malady of his
world, the disposition to regard all human kind, and himself
especially, as impure, depraved. Often at the mercy of his passions,
he refrained from marriage chiefly on this very account, the married
state seeming to him a mere compromise with the evil of the flesh;
but in his house were two children, born to him by a slave now dead,
and these he would already have sent into a monastery, but that
human affection struggled against what he deemed duty. The man lived
in dread of eternal judgment; he could not look at a setting sun
without having his thought turned to the fires of hell, and a night
of wakefulness, common enough in his imperfect health, shook him
with horrors unutterable. Being of such mind and temper, it was
strange that he had not long ago joined the multitude of those who
day by day fled from worldly life into ascetic seclusion; what
withheld him was a spark of the ancestral spirit, some drops of the
old Roman blood, prompting his human nature to assert and justify
itself. Hence the sympathy between him and Basil, both being capable
of patriotism, and feeling a desire in the depths of their hearts to
live as they would have lived had they been born in an earlier time.
But whereas Basil nursed this disposition, regarding it as
altogether laudable, Marcian could only see in it an outcome of
original sin, and after every indulgence of such mundane thoughts
did penance as for something worse than weakness. His father had
died in an anguish of compunction for a life stained with
sensuality; his mother had killed herself by excessive rigours of
penitence; these examples were ever before his mind. Yet he seldom
spoke, save to spiritual counsellors, of this haunting trouble, and
only the bitterness of envy, an envy entirely human, had drawn from
him the words which so astonished Basil in their last conversation.
Indeed, the loves of Basil and Veranilda made a tumult in his soul;
at times it seemed to him that he hated his friend, so intolerable
was the jealousy that racked him. Veranilda he had never seen, but
the lover's rapture had created in his imagination a face and form
of matchless beauty which he could not cease from worshipping. He
took this for a persecution of the fiend, and strove against it by
all methods known to him. About his body he wore things that
tortured; he fasted to the point of exhaustion; he slept--if sleep
came to him--on a bare stone floor; some hours of each day he
spent in visiting churches, where he prayed ardently.

Basil, when he had rushed forth from the Anicianum, rode straightway
to the Via Lata, and presented himself at Marcian's door. The porter
said that his master had been absent since dawn, but Basil none the
less entered, and, in the room where he and his friend were wont to
talk, threw himself upon a couch to wait. He lay sunk in the most
sombre thoughts, until at the door appeared Sagaris, who with the
wonted suave servility, begged permission to speak to him.

'Speak on,' said Basil gloomily, fixing his eyes upon the oriental
visage, so little reassuring to one harassed by suspicions.

'It is regarding my dear lord, Illustrious, that I would say a
humble word, if your nobility will bear with me.'

'What can that be?'

'I am guilty, I know, of much presumption, but I entreat your
nobility's patience, for in truth it is only my love and my fears
that embolden me to speak. What I would make known to you,
Illustrious, is that for more than two whole days my dear lord has
not broken bread. Since our return to Rome he has fasted all but
continuously, at the same time inflicting upon himself many other
penances of the severest kind. For this, I well know, he will have
his reward in the eternal life; but when I note his aspect, I am
overcome with fear lest we should lose him too soon. This morning,
when I was helping him to dress, he sank down, and lay for a time as
one dead. My lord would rebuke me severely if he knew that I had
ventured to speak of these things; but with you, Illustrious, I feel
that I am in no danger. You will understand me, and pardon me.'

Basil had raised himself to a sitting position. Supporting himself
on one hand, he stared straight before him, and only spoke when a
movement on the part of the servant betrayed impatience.

'This has gone on, you say, since your return to Rome? Was it your
lord's habit to do such penance on his travels?'

'Never in this extreme, though I have always marvelled at his
piety.'

Again Basil kept a long silence.

'You have done well to tell me,' he said at length; then, with a
wave of the hand, dismissed the Syrian.

It was nearly mid-day when Marcian returned. At the sight of Basil
his pale, weary countenance assumed a troubled smile. He embraced
his friend, kissing him affectionately on both cheeks, and sat down
by him with a sigh of fatigue.

'What makes you so wan?' asked Basil, peering into his eyes.

'I sleep ill.'

'Why so? Is it pain or thought that keeps you wakeful?'

'Both, perhaps,' answered Marcian. He paused, reflected gloomily,
and went on in a subdued voice. 'Do you think often, Basil, of the
eternal fire?'

'Not often. Sometimes, of course.'

'Last night I had a dream, which assuredly was a temptation of the
evil one. My father stood before me, and said, "Fear not, Marcian,
for there is no Gehenna. It is but the vision of man's tormented
conscience." And I awoke with a great joy. But at once the truth
came upon me; and until dawn I prayed for strength to resist that
perilous solace. This morning I have talked long with a holy man,
opening my heart to him, that he might finally resolve my doubts. I
said to him: "Slaves who have committed a fault are punished that
they may amend. To what purpose is the punishment of the wicked
after death, since there can be no amendment?" and he replied: "My
son, the wicked are punished in Gehenna that the just may feel
gratitude to the divine grace which has preserved them from such a
doom." "But," I objected, "ought not the just to pray for their
enemies in such evil case?" His answer was prompt: "The time for
prayer is past. The blessed concur in the judgment of God!"'

Basil listened with bent head.

'Maximus,' he said presently, 'often doubted of eternal torment; and
my cousin Decius has more than once confessed to me that he believes
it not at all, being strengthened therein by his friend the
philosopher Simplicius. I, O Marcian, would fain think it a dream--
yet there are evil doings in this world which make me fear that it
may be true.'

'You have seen Bessas again?'

'Yes. And I have seen Petronilla.'

His eyes on the listener, Basil recounted his conversation of this
morning, all save that part of it which related to Marcian. He could
detect no sign of guilty uneasiness in his friend's face, but saw
that Marcian grew very thoughtful.

'Is not this a shamelessness in falsehood which passes belief?' were
his last words.

'If indeed it be falsehood,' replied Marcian, meeting the other's
eyes. 'I will confess that, this day or two, I have suspected Bessas
of knowing more than he pretends.'

'What?' Basil exclaimed. 'You think Veranilda is really in his
power?'

Marcian answered with a return to the old irony.

'I would not venture to set bounds to the hypocrisy and the
mendacity and the pertinacity of woman, but, after another
conversation with Petronilla, I am shaken in my belief that she
still holds her prisoners. She may, in truth, have surrendered them.
What makes me inclined to think it, is the fierceness with which she
now turns on _me_, accusing me of the whole plot from the first.
That, look you, would be sweet revenge to a woman defeated. Why,' he
added, with a piercing but kindly look, 'do you hide from me that
she sought to persuade you of my treachery? Is it, O Basil, because
you feared lest she spoke the truth?'

Flushing under that honest gaze, Basil sprang up and seized his
friend's hand. Tears came into his eyes as he avowed the truth and
entreated pardon.

'It was only because misery has made me all but mad. Nay, I _knew_
that she lied, but I could not rest till I had the assurance of it
from your own lips. You think, then, dearest Marcian, that Veranilda
is lost to me for ever? You believe it is true that she is already
on the way to Constantinople?'

Marcian hoped it with all his heart, for with the disappearance of
Veranilda this strange, evil jealousy of his would fade away; and he
had many reasons for thinking that the loss of his Gothic love would
be the best thing that could happen to Basil. At the same time, he
felt his friend's suffering, and could not bring himself to inflict
another wound.

'If so,' he replied, 'the Greek has less confidence in me than I
thought, and I must take it as a warning. It may be. On the other
hand, there is the possibility that Petronilla's effrontery outwits
us all. Of course she has done her best to ruin both of us, and
perhaps is still trying to persuade Bessas that you keep Veranilda
in hiding, whilst I act as your accomplice. If this be the case, we
shall both of us know the smell of a prison before long, and
perchance the taste of torture. What say you? Shall we wait for that
chance, or speed away into Campania, and march with the king against
Neapolis?'

Though he smiled, there was no mistaking Marcian's earnestness. For
the moment he had shaken off his visions of Tartarus, and was his
saner self once more.

'If I knew that she has gone!' cried Basil wretchedly. 'If I knew!'

'So you take your chance?'

'Listen! You speak of prison, of torture. Marcian, can you not help,
me to capture that woman, and to get from her the truth?'

Basil's face grew terrible as he spoke. He quivered, his teeth
ground together.

'I, too, have thought of it,' replied the other coldly. 'But it is
difficult and dangerous.'

They talked yet awhile, until Marcian, who looked cadaverous,
declared his need of food, and they went to the mid-day meal.

A few days went by. Basil was occupied with the business of his
inheritance. He had messengers to despatch to estates in Lucania and
Apulia. Then came news that a possession of Maximus' in the south
had been invaded and seized by a neighbour; for which outrage there
was little hope of legal remedy in the present state of affairs;
only by the strong hand could Basil vindicate his right. Trouble was
caused him by a dispute with one of the legatees, a poor kinsman who
put an unexpected interpretation upon the item of the will which
concerned him. Another poor kinsman, to whom Maximus had bequeathed
a share in certain property in Rome, wished to raise money on this
security. Basil himself could not lend the desired sum, for, though
lord of great estates, he found himself after Chorsoman's pillage of
the strong room at Surrentum, scarcely able to meet immediate claims
upon him under the will; but he consented to accompany his relative
to a certain moneychanger, of whom perchance a loan might be
obtained. This man of business, an Alexandrian, had his office on
the Capitoline Hill, in that open space between the Capitol and the
Arx, where merchants were still found; he sat in a shadowed corner
of a portico, before him a little table on which coins were
displayed, and at his back a small dark shop, whence came a confused
odour of stuffs and spices. Long and difficult were the
negotiations. To Basil's surprise, the Alexandrian, though treating
him with the utmost respect, evidently gave little weight to his
guarantee in money matters; as to property in Rome, he seemed to
regard it as the most insubstantial of securities. Only on gems and
precious metals would he consent to lend a sum of any importance.

Whilst this debate was in progress, a litter, gaudy and luxurious,
borne by eight slaves clad in yellow, with others like them before
and behind, came to a stop close by, and from it alighted a lady
whose gorgeous costume matched the brilliance of her vehicle and
retinue. She was young and beautiful, with dark, oriental features,
and a bearing which aimed at supremity of arrogance. Having stepped
down, she stood at the edge of the portico, languidly gazing this
way and that, with the plain intention of exhibiting herself to the
loiterers whom her appearance drew together; at every slightest
movement, the clink of metal sounded from her neck, her arms, her
ankles; stones glistened on her brow and on her hands; about her she
shed a perfume like that wafted from the Arabian shore.

The Greek merchant, as soon as he was aware of her arrival, ran
forward and stood obsequiously before her, until she deigned to
notice him.

'I would speak with you. See that we are private.'

'Noble lady,' he replied, 'the lord Basilius, heir of the Senator
Maximus, is within. I will straightway beg him to defer his
business.'

The lady turned and gazed into the dusky shop.

'He is not alone, I see.'

'A kinsman is with him, noble lady.'

'Then bid the kinsman go his way, and keep apart, you, until you are
summoned. I will speak for a moment with the lord Basilius.'

The Alexandrian, masking a smile, drew near to Basil, and whispered
that the lady Heliodora demanded to see him alone. A gesture of
annoyance was the first reply, but, after an instant's reflection,
Basil begged his kinsman to withdraw. Heliodora then entered the
shop, which was nothing more than an open recess, with a stone
counter half across the entrance, and behind it a couple of wooden
stools. Upon one of these the lady seated herself, and Basil, who
had greeted her only with a movement of the head, stood waiting.

'So you will not sup with me?' began Heliodora, in a voice of
bantering indifference. 'You will not come to see me? You will not
write to me? It is well. I care less than the clipping of a
finger-nail.'

'So I would have it,' Basil replied coldly.

'Good. Then we are both satisfied. This is much better than making
pretence of what we don't feel, and playing a comedy with our two
selves for spectators. You amused me for a while; that is over; now
you amuse me in another way. Turn a little towards the light. Let me
have a look at your pretty face, Basilidion.'

She spoke with a Greek accent, mingling now and then with the Roman
speech a Greek word or exclamation, and her voice, sonorous rather
than melodious, one moment seemed about to strike the note of anger,
at another seemed softening to tenderness.

'With your leave,' said Basil, 'I will be gone. I have matters of
some importance to attend to.'

'With your leave,' echoed Heliodora, 'I will detain you yet a
little. For you, Basilidion, there is only one matter of importance,
and it may be that I can serve you better therein than any you
esteem your graver friends. There, now, I see your face. Holy Mary I
how wan and worn it is. From my heart I pity you, Basilidion. Come
now, tell me the story. I have heard fifty versions, some credible,
some plain fable. Confide in me; who knows but I may help you.'

'Scoff as you will,' was his answer. 'It is your privilege. But in
truth, lady, I have little time to waste.'

'And in truth, lord, your courtesy has suffered since you began to
peck and pine for this little Hun.'

'Hun?'

'Oh, I cry pardon! Goth, I should have said. Indeed, there are
degrees of barbarism--but, as you will. I say again, I care not
the clipping of my smallest nail.' She held her hand towards him;
very white it was, and soft and shapely, but burdened with too many
rings. 'Tell me all, and I will help you. Tell me nothing, and have
nothing for your pains.'

'Help me?' exclaimed Basil, in scornful impatience. 'Am I such a
fool as to think you would wish to help me, even if you could?'

'Listen to me, Basil.' She spoke in a deep note which was half
friendliness, half menace. 'I am not wont to have my requests
refused. Leave me thus, and you have one more enemy--an enemy more
to be dreaded than all the rest. Already I know something of this
story, and I can know the whole of it as soon as I will; but what I
want now is to hear the truth about your part in it. You have lost
your little Goth; of that I need no assurance. But tell me how it
came about.'

Basil stood with bent head. In the portico, at a little distance,
there began to sound the notes of a flute played by some itinerant
musician.

'You dare refuse me?' said Heliodora, after waiting a moment. 'You
are a bolder man than I thought.'

'Ask what you wish to know,' broke from the other. 'Recount to you I
will not. Put questions, and I will reply if I think fit.'

'Good.'

Heliodora smiled, with a movement which made all her trappings of
precious metal jingle as though triumphantly. And she began to
question, tracking out all Basil's relations with Veranilda from
their first meeting at Cumae to the day of the maiden's
disappearance. His answers, forced from him partly by vague fear,
partly by as vague a hope, were the briefest possible, but in every
case he told the truth.

'It is well,' said Heliodora, when the interrogation was over.
'Poor, poor Basilidion! How ill he has been used! And not even a
kiss from the little Goth. Or am I mistaken? Perhaps--'

'Be silent!' exclaimed Basil harshly.

'Oh, I will not pry into chaste secrets. For the present, enough. Go
your ways, Basil, and take courage. I keep faith, as you know; and
that I am disposed to be your friend is not your standing here,
alive and well, a sufficient proof?'

She had risen, and, as she uttered these words, her eyes gleamed
large in the dusk.

'When you wish to see me,' she added, 'come to my house. To you it
is always open. I may perchance send you a message. If so, pay heed
to it.'

Basil was turning away.

'What! Not even the formal courtesy? Your manners have indeed
declined, my poor Basil.'

With an abrupt, awkward movement, he took her half offered hand, and
touched the rings with his lips; then hastened away.

On the edge of the cluster of idlers who were listening to the flute
player stood his needy kinsman. Basil spoke with him for a moment,
postponed their business, and, with a sign to the two slaves in
attendance, walked on. By the Clivus Argentarius he descended to the
Forum. In front of the Curia stood the state' carriage of the City
Prefect, for the Senate had been called together this morning to
hear read some decree newly arrived from Byzantium; and as Basil
drew near he saw the Prefect, with senators about him, come forth
and descend the steps. These dignitaries, who wore with but ill
grace the ancient toga, were evidently little pleased by what they
had heard; they talked under their breath together, many of them, no
doubt, recalling sadly the honour they were wont to receive from
King Theodoric. As their president drove away, Basil, gazing idly
after the _carpentum_, felt himself touched on the arm; he looked
round and saw Decius, whose panting breath declared his haste,
whilst his countenance was eloquent of ill.

'I come from the Anicianum,' Decius whispered, 'and bring terrible
news. Petronilla lies dying of the pest.'

Dazed as if under a violent blow, Basil stretched out his hand. It
touched the wall of the little temple of Janus, in the shadow of
which they were standing.

'The pest?' he echoed faintly.

'She was seized in the night. Some one in the house--some woman,
they tell me, whom she brought with her a few days ago, I know not
whence--is just dead. I have sped hither in search of any one with
whom I could speak of it; God be thanked that I have met you! I went
to fetch away books, as you know.'

'I must go there,' said Basil, gazing about him to find his slaves.
'I must go straightway.'

'Why? The danger is great.'

'It may be'--this was spoken into Decius' ear--'that Veranilda
is imprisoned there. I have proof now, awful proof, that Petronilla
lied to me. I must enter, and seek.'

Hard by were litters for public hire. Bidding his slaves follow,
Basil had himself carried, fast as bearers could run, towards the
Anicianum. Not even fear of the pestilence could withhold him. His
curse upon Petronilla had been heard; the Almighty God had smitten
her; would not the same Power protect him? He prayed mentally,
beseeching the intercession of the Virgin, of the saints. He made a
vow that, did he recover Veranilda, he would not rest until he had
won her conversion to the Catholic faith.

Without the Anicianum, nothing indicated disturbance, but as soon as
he had knocked at the door it was thrown wide open, and he saw,
gathered in the vestibule, a crowd of dismayed servants. Two or
three of them, whom he knew well, hurried forward, eager to speak.
He learnt that physicians were with the sick lady, and that the
presbyter of St. Cecilia, for whom she had sent in the early
morning, remained by her side. No member of the family (save Decius)
had yet come, though messages had been despatched to several.
Unopposed, Basil entered the atrium, and there spoke with
Petronilla's confidential freedman.

'Leo, your mistress is dying. Speak the truth to me, and you shall
be rewarded; refuse to answer, or lie to me, and I swear by the
Cross that you shall suffer. Who was the woman that died here
yesterday?'

The freedman answered without hesitation, telling the same story
Basil had already heard from Petronilla.

'Good. She has been buried?'

'She was carried out before dawn.'

'Tell me now, upon your salvation, is any one kept prisoner here?'

Leo, an elderly man, his eyes red with tears and his hands
tremulous, gazed meaningly at the questioner.

'No one; no one,' he answered under his breath. 'I swear it to you,
O lord Basil.'

'Come with me through the house.'

'But Leo, moving nearer, begged that he might be heard and believed.
He understood the meaning of these inquiries, for he had been with
his mistress at Surrentum. They whom Basil sought were not here; all
search would be useless; in proof of this Leo offered the evidence
of his wife, who could reveal something of moment which she had
learnt only a few hours ago. The woman was called, and Basil spoke
apart with her; he learnt that Petronilla, as soon as her pains
began, sent a messenger to the deacon Leander, entreating him to
come; but Leander had only yesterday set out on a journey, and would
not be back for a week or more. Hearing this, the stricken lady fell
into an anguish of mind worse even than that of the body; she
uttered words signifying repentance for some ill-doing, and, after a
while, said to those who were beside her--a physician and the
speaker--that, if she died, they were to make known to Bessas that
the deacon Leander, he and he alone, could tell all. Having said
this, Petronilla became for a time calmer; but her sufferings
increased, and suddenly she bade summon the presbyter of St.
Cecilia's church. With him she spoke alone, and for a long time.
Since, she had uttered no word touching worldly matters; the woman
believed that she was now unconscious.

'And you swear to me,' said Basil, who quivered as he listened,
'that this is the truth and all you know?'

Leo's wife swore by everything sacred on earth, and by all the
powers of heaven, that she had falsified nothing, concealed nothing.
Thereupon Basil turned to go away. In the vestibule, the slaves
knelt weeping before him, some with entreaties to be permitted to
leave this stricken house, some imploring advice against the plague;
men and women alike, all were beside themselves with terror. In this
moment there came a knocking at the entrance; the porter ran to
open, and admitted Gordian. Basil and he, who had not met since the
day of the family gathering, spoke together in the portico. He had
come, said Gordian, in the fear that Petronilla had been forsaken by
all her household, as sometimes happened to those infected. Had it
been so, he would have held it a duty to approach her with what
solace he could. As it was, physician and priest and servants being
here, he durst not risk harm to his own family; but he would hold
himself in readiness, if grave occasion summoned him. So Gordian
remounted his horse, and rode back home.

Basil lingered. He no longer entertained the suspicion that
Veranilda might be here, but he thought that, could he speak with
Petronilla herself, penitence might prompt her to tell him where the
captive lay hidden. It surprised him not at all to hear Leander's
name as that of her confidant in the matter, though hitherto his
thought had not turned in that direction. Leander signified the
Church, and what hope was there that he could gain his end against
such an opponent?--more formidable than Bessas, more powerful,
perhaps, than Justinian. Were Veranilda imprisoned in some
monastery, he might abandon hope of beholding her again on this side
of the grave.

Yet it was something to know that she had not passed into the hands
of the Greeks; that she was not journeying to the Byzantine court,
there to be wedded against her will. Cheered by this, he felt an
impulse of daring; he would see Petronilla.

'Leo! Lead me to the chamber.'

The freedman besought him not to be so rash, but Basil was possessed
with furious resolve. He drove the servant before him, through the
atrium, into a long corridor. Suddenly the silence was broken by a
shriek of agony, so terrible that Basil felt his blood chilled to
the very heart. This cry came again, echoing fearfully through the
halls and galleries of this palace of marble. The servants had fled;
Basil dropped to his knees, crossed himself, prayed, the sweat
standing upon his forehead. A footstep approached him; he rose, and
saw the physician who had been with Maximus at Surrentum.

'Does she still live?' he asked.

'If life it can be called. What do you here, lord Basil?'

'Can she hear and speak?'

'I understand you,' replied the physician. 'But it is useless. She
has confessed to the priest, and will utter no word more. Look to
yourself; the air you breathe is deadly.'

And Basil, weak as a child, suffered himself to be led away.





CHAPTER XIII

THE SOUL OF ROME




The library in Basil's house was a spacious, graceful room, offering
at this day very much the same aspect as in the time of that
ancestral Anician, who, when Aurelian ruled, first laid rolls and
codices upon its shelves. Against the walls stood closed presses of
wood, with bronze panelling, on which were seen in relief the
portraits of poets and historians; from the key of each hung a strip
of parchment, with a catalogue of the works within. Between the
presses, on pedestals of dark green serpentine, ranged busts of the
Greek philosophers: Zeno with his brows knitted, Epicurus bland,
Aratus gazing upward, Heraclitus in tears, Democritus laughing.
These were attributed to ancient artists, and by all who still cared
for such things were much admired. In the middle stood a dancing
faun in blood red marble, also esteemed a precious work of art.
Light entered by an arched window, once glazed, now only barred with
ornamental iron, too high in the wall to allow of any view; below
this, serving as table, was an old marble sarcophagus carved with
the Calydonian hunt.

Here, one day of spring, Decius sat over his studies. Long ago he
had transferred hither all the books from the great house across the
Tiber, and had made his home on the Caelian. As he read or wrote a
hard cough frequently interrupted him. During the past half year his
health had grown worse, and he talked at times of returning to the
Surrentine villa, if perchance that sweeter air might soothe him,
but in the present state of things--Totila had just laid siege to
Neapolis--the removal did not seem feasible. Moreover, Decius
loved Rome, and thought painfully of dying elsewhere than within her
walls.

There was a footfall at the door, and Basil entered. He was
carelessly clad, walked with head bent, and had the look of one who
spends his life in wearisome idleness. Without speaking, however, he
threw himself upon a couch and lay staring with vacant eye at the
bronze panels of the vaulted ceiling. For some minutes silence
continued; then Decius, a roll in his hand, stepped to his kinsman's
side and indicated with his finger a passage of the manuscript. What
Basil read might be rendered thus:

'I am hateful to myself. For though born to do something worthy of a
man, I am now not only incapable of action, but even of thought.'

'Who says that?' he asked, too indolent to glance at the beginning
of the roll.

'A certain Marcus Tullius, in one of his letters,' replied the
other, smiling, and returned to his own couch.

Basil moved uneasily, sighed, and at length spoke in a serious tone.

'I understand you, best Decius. You are right. Many a time I have
used to myself almost those very words. When I was young--how old
I feel!--I looked forward to a life full of achievements. I felt
capable of great things. But in our time, what can we do, we who are
born Romans, yet have never learnt to lead an army or to govern a
state?'

He let his arm fall despondently, and sank again into brooding
silence.

At root, Basil's was a healthy and vigorous nature. Sound of body,
he needed to put forth his physical energies, yet had never found
more scope for them than in the exercise of the gymnasium, or the
fatigue of travel; mentally well-balanced, he would have made an
excellent administrator, such as his line had furnished in
profusion, but that career was no longer open. Of Marcian's ascetic
gloom he knew nothing: not all the misery he had undergone in these
last six months could so warp his wholesome instincts. Owning
himself, in the phrases he had repeated from childhood, a miserable
sinner, a vile clot of animated dust, at heart he felt himself one
with all the beautiful and joyous things that the sun illumined.
With pleasure and sympathy he looked upon an ancient statue of god
or hero; only a sense of duty turned his eyes upon the images of
Christian art.

And this natural tendency was encouraged by his education, which,
like that of all well-born Romans, even in the sixth century after
Christ, had savoured much more of paganism than of Christianity.
Like his ancestors, before the age of Constantine, he had been
taught grammar and rhetoric; grammar which was supposed to include
all sciences, meaning practically a comment on a few classical
texts, and rhetoric presumed a preparation for the life of the
Forum, having become an art of declamation which had no reference to
realities. Attempts had been made--the last, only a few years ago,
by Cassiodorus--to establish Christian schools in Rome, but
without success, so profoundly were the ancient intellectual habits
rooted in this degenerate people. The long resistance to the new
religion was at an end, but Romans, even while confessing that the
gods were demons, could not cast off their affection for the
mythology and history of their glorious time. Thus Basil had spent
his schooldays mostly in the practice of sophistic argument, and the
delivery of harangues on traditional subjects. Other youths had
shown greater aptitude for this kind of eloquence; he did not often
carry off a prize; but among his proud recollections was a success
he had achieved in the form of a rebuke to an impious voluptuary who
set up a statue of Diana in the room which beheld his debauches.
Here was the nemesis of a system of education which had aimed solely
at the practical, the useful; having always laboured to produce the
man perfectly equipped for public affairs, and nothing else
whatever. Rome found herself tottering with senile steps in the same
path when the Empire and the ancient world lay in ruins about her.
Basil was not studious. Long ago he had forgotten his 'grammatical'
learning--except, of course, a few important matters known to all
educated men, such as the fact that the alphabet was invented by
Mercury, who designed the letters from figures made in their flight
by the cranes of Strymon. Though so ardent a lover, he had composed
no lyric or elegy in Veranilda's honour; his last poetical effort
was made in his sixteenth year, when, to his own joy, and to the
admiration of his friends, he wrote a distich, the verses of which
read the same whether you began from the left hand or the right.
Nowadays if he ever opened a book it was some historian of
antiquity. Livy, by choice, who reminded him of his country's
greatness, and reawakened in him the desire to live a not inglorious
life.

Of his latter boyhood part had been spent at Ravenna, where his
father Probus, a friend as well as kinsman of the wise minister
Cassiodorus, now and then made a long sojourn; and he had thus
become accustomed to the society of the more cultivated Goths,
especially of those who were the intimates of the learned Queen
Amalasuntha. Here, too, he learned a certain liberality in religious
matters; for it was Cassiodorus who, in one of the rescripts given
from the Gothic court, wrote those memorable words: 'Religious faith
we have no power to impose, seeing that no man can be made to
believe against his will.' Upon the murder of Amalasuntha, when the
base Theodahad ruled alone, and ruin lay before the Gothic monarchy,
Probus, despairing of Italy, following the example of numerous Roman
nobles, migrated to Byzantium. His wife being dead, and his daughter
having entered a convent, he was accompanied only by Basil, then
eighteen years of age. A new world thus opened before Basil's mind;
its brilliancy at first dazzled and delighted him, but very soon he
perceived the difference between a noble's life at Rome or Ravenna
under the mild rule of the Goths, and that led by so-called Romans
in the fear of Justinian and of Theodora. His father, disappointed
in hopes of preferment which had been held out to him, gladly
accepted a mission which would take him back to Italy: he was one of
the envoys sent to Belisarius during the siege of Ravenna, to urge
the conclusion of the Gothic war and command the return of the
Patricius as soon as might be for service against the Persians; and
with him came Basil. On the journey Probus fell ill; he was able to
cross the Adriatic, but no sooner touched Italian Soil than he
breathed his last.

Then it was that Basil, representing his father in the Imperial
mission, came face to face with Belisarius, and conceived a
boundless enthusiasm for the great commander, whose personal
qualities--the large courtesy, the ready kindliness, the frequent
laugh--made intimate appeal to one of his disposition. He stayed
in the camp before Ravenna until the city surrendered, and no one
listened with more ardent approval to the suggestion which began as
a whisper between Italians and Goths that Belisarius should accept
the purple of the Western Empire. This, to be sure, would have been
treachery, but treachery against Justinian seemed a small thing to
Basil, and a thing of no moment at all when one thought of Rome as
once more an Imperial city, and Italy with such a ruler as the
laurelled Patricius. Treachery the general did commit, but not
against Byzantium. Having made pretence of accepting the crown which
the Goths offered him, he entered into Ravenna, took possession in
Justinian's name, and presently sailed for the East, carrying with
him the King Vitiges and his wife Matasuntha, grand-daughter of
Theodoric. It was a bitter disappointment to Basil, who had imagined
for himself a brilliant career under the auspices of the new Roman
Emperor, and who now saw himself merely a conquered Italian, set
under the authority of Byzantine governors. He had no temptation to
remain in the North, for Cassiodorus was no longer here, having
withdrawn a twelvemonth ago to his own country by the Ionian Sea,
and there entered the monastery founded by himself; at Ravenna ruled
the logothete Alexandros, soon to win a surname from his cleverness
in coin-clipping. So Basil journeyed to Rome, where his kinsfolk met
him with news of deaths and miseries. The city was but raising her
head after the long agony of the Gothic siege. He entered his silent
home on the Caelian, and began a life of dispirited idleness.

Vast was the change produced in the Roman's daily existence by the
destruction of the aqueducts. The Thermae being henceforth
unsupplied with water, those magnificent resorts of every class of
citizen lost their attraction, and soon ceased to be frequented; for
all the Roman's exercises and amusements were associated with the
practice of luxurious bathing, and without that refreshment the
gymnasium, the tennis-court, the lounge, no longer charmed as
before. Rome became dependent upon wells and the Tiber, wretched
resource compared with the never-failing and abundant streams which
once poured through every region of the city and threw up fountains
in all but every street. Belisarius, as soon as the Goths retreated,
ordered the repairing of an aqueduct, that which served the
transtiberine district, and was indispensable to the working of the
Janiculan mills, where corn was ground; but, after his departure,
there was neither enough energy nor sufficient sense of security in
Rome for the restoration of even one of the greater conduits. Nobles
and populace alike lived without the bath, grew accustomed to more
or less uncleanliness, and in a certain quarter suffered worse than
inconvenience from the lack of good water.

Formerly a young Roman of Basil's rank, occupied or not by any
serious pursuit, would have spent several hours of the day at one or
other of the Thermae still in use; if inclined to display, he would
have gone thither with a train of domestic attendants, and probably
of parasites; were the season hot, here he found coolness; were it
cold, here he warmed himself. Society never failed; opportunity for
clandestine meetings could always be found; all the business and the
pleasure of a day were regulated with reference to this immemorial
habit. Now, to enter the Thermae was to hear one's footsteps resound
in a marble wilderness; to have statues for companions and a sense
of ruin for one's solace. Basil, who thought more than the average
Roman about these changes, and who could not often amuse himself
with such spectacles as the theatres or the circus offered, grew
something of a solitary in his habits, and was supposed by those who
did not know him intimately, to pass most of his time in religious
meditation, the preface, perhaps, to retirement from the world.
Indolence bringing its wonted temptations, he fell into acquaintance
with Heliodora, a Neapolitan Greek of uncertain origin, whose
husband that year held the office of City Prefect. Acquaintance with
Heliodora was, in his case, sure to be a dangerous thing, and might
well prove fatal, for many and fierce were the jealousies excited by
that brilliant lady, whose husband alone regarded with equanimity
her amorous adventures. Happily, Basil did not take the matter very
much to heart; he scarce pretended to himself that he cared whether
Heliodora was his for a day only or for a month; and he had already
turned his thoughts to the sweetness of Aemiliana, that young sister
of Gordian, whom, if he chose, he might make his wife.

Now again had sluggishness taken possession of him, and with it came
those promptings of the flesh which, but a few months ago, he easily
subdued, but which the lapse of time had once more made perilous. To
any who should have ventured to taunt him with forgetfulness of
Veranilda, he would have fiercely given the lie; and with reason,
for Veranilda's image was as vivid to him as on the day when he lost
her, and she alone of women had the power to excite his deepest and
tenderest emotions. Nevertheless, he had more than once of late
visited Heliodora, and though these visits were in appearance only
such as he might have paid to any lady of his acquaintance, Basil
knew very well whither they tended. As yet Heliodora affected a
total forgetfulness of the past; she talked of Veranilda, and
confessed that her efforts to make any discovery regarding the
captive were still fruitless, though she by no means gave up hope;
therewithal, she treated Basil only half seriously, with
good-naturedly mocking smiles, as a mere boy, a disdain to her
mature womanhood. Of this was he thinking as he tossed on the couch
in the library; he had thought of it too much since leaving
Heliodora yesterday afternoon. It began to nettle him that his grief
should be for her merely an amusement. Never having seen the Gothic
maiden, whose beauty outshone hers as sunrise outdoes the lighting
of a candle, this wanton Greek was capable of despising him in good
earnest, and Basil had never been of those who sit easy under scorn.
He felt something chafe and grow hot within him, and recalled the
days when he, and not Heliodora, had indulged contempt--to his
mind a much more natural posture of affairs, The animal that is in
every man had begun to stir; it urged him to master and crush and
tame this woman, whom, indeed, he held rather in hate than in any
semblance of love. Her beauty, her sensuality, had power over him
still; he resented such danger of subjection, and encouraged himself
in a barbarism of mood, which permitted him to think that even in
yielding he might find the way of his revenge.

There had been a long silence since his reply to the hint offered by
Decius. The student spoke again.

'Basil, leave Rome.'

'It is forbidden,' answered the other dully, his face averted.

'Many things are forbidden which none the less are done. Did you
learn that Veranilda awaited you at Asculum, how long would it be
before you set forth?'

'Not one hour, good Decius.'

'Even. so. You would pass the gates disguised as a peasant or as a
woman--no matter how. Will you do less to save all that makes life
dear to an honourable man? Be gone, be gone, I entreat you.'

'Whither?'

'To Picenum, which is not yet subject to the Goths. There gather
your capable men and arm them, and send to the King Totila, offering
to serve him where he will, and how he will. You know,' pursued
Decius earnestly, 'that I speak this something against my
conscience, but, alas! we can only choose between evils, and I think
Totila is less of a tyrant than Justinian. You will not go to
Constantinople, nor would I bid you, for there, assuredly, is
nothing to be done worthy of a man; but you must act, or you perish.
For me, a weakling and a dreamer, there is solace in the _vita
umbratilis_; to you, it is naught. Arise, then, O Basil, ere it be
too late.'

The listener rose from his recumbent attitude; he was stirred by
this unwonted vigour in Decius, but not yet did resolve appear on
his countenance.

'Did I but know,' he murmured, 'that Veranilda is not in Rome!'

Innumerable times had he said it; the thought alone held him inert.
Impossible to discover, spite of all his efforts, whether Veranilda
had been delivered to the Greeks, or still lay captive in some place
known to the deacon Leander. From the behaviour of Bessas nothing
could be certainly deduced: it was now a long time since he had sent
for Basil, and Marcian, though believing that the commander's search
was still futile, had no more certainty than his friend. Soon after
Petronilla's death, the Anician mansion had been thoroughly pillaged
and everything of value removed to the Palatine. Bessas condescended
to justify this proceeding: having learnt, he said, that the
question of Aurelia's orthodoxy lay in doubt, some declaring that
she was a heretic, some that she had returned to orthodoxy before
her father's death, he took charge of the property which might be
hers until she appeared to claim it, when, having the testament of
Maximus in his hand, he would see that justice was done. With
Leander, Basil had succeeded in obtaining an interview, which was
altogether fruitless. The deacon would answer no question, and
contented himself with warning his visitor of the dangers incurred
by one who openly sought to defeat the will of the Emperor.

'Is it farewell?' asked Decius, stepping towards his kinsman, who
seemed about to leave the room.

'I will think.'

'Go speak with Gordian. He says that he can obtain you permission to
leave the city.'

'I doubt it,' replied Basil. 'But I will see him--ere long.'

Decius went forth for his morning's exercise, which sometimes took
the form of a gentle game of ball, but was generally a ramble on
foot and unaccompanied, for he never felt at ease when an attendant
followed him. His habits were solitary; ever absorbed in thought, or
lost in dreams, he avoided the ways where he would be likely to
encounter an acquaintance, and strayed among ruins in deserted
gardens, such as were easily found in the remoter parts of the
Caelian. To-day, tempted on by the delicious air, and the bright but
not ardent sunshine, he wandered by such unfrequented paths till a
sound of voices broke upon his meditation, and he found himself in
view of the Lateran. Numbers of poor people were streaming away from
the open space by the Pope's palace, loud in angry talk, its purpose
intelligible enough to any one who caught a few words. Decius heard
maledictions upon the Holy Father, mingled with curses no less
hearty upon the Greeks who held Rome.

'It was not thus,' cried an old man, 'in the time of King Theodoric,
heretic though he might be. We had our bread and our hog's flesh,
prime quality both, and plenty for all.'

'Ay,' cried a woman, 'and our oil too. Since these Greek dogs came,
not a drop of oil has there been in my cruse. Heretics, forsooth!
What better is the Holy Father who lets Christians die of hunger
while he eats and drinks his fill?'

'Evil go with thee, O Vigilius! The pest seize thee, O Vigilius!
May'st thou perish eternally, O Vigilius!' shrilled and shouted all
manner of voices, while fists were shaken towards the pontifical
abode.

Decius hastened away. The sight of suffering was painful to him, and
the cries of the vulgar offended his ear; he felt indignant that
these people should not be fed, as Rome for so many ages had fed her
multitude, but above all, he dreaded uproar, confusion, violence.
His hurried pace did not relax until he was lost again amid a
wilderness of ruins, where browsing goats and darting lizards were
the only life.

Later in the day, when he sat alone in the peristyle, a visitor was
introduced, whom he rose to welcome cordially and respectfully. This
was a man of some threescore years, vigorous in frame, with dry,
wrinkled visage and a thin, grey beard that fell to his girdle. As
he approached, Decius saw that he was bleeding from a wound on the
head and that his cloak was torn.

'What means this, dear master?' he exclaimed. 'What has befallen
you?'

'Nothing worth your notice, gentle Decius,' the philosopher replied,
calmly and gravely. 'Let us rather examine this rare treatise of
Plotinus, which by good fortune I yesterday discovered among rubbish
thrown aside.'

'Nay,' insisted Decius, 'but your wound must be washed and dressed;
it may else prove dangerous. I fear this was no accident?'

'If you must know,' answered the other with good-natured
peevishness, 'I am accused of magic. The honest folk who are my
neighbours, prompted, I think it likely, by a certain senator who
takes it ill that his son is my disciple, have shown me of late more
attention than I care for, and to-day as I came forth, they pursued
me with cries of "Sorcerer!" and the like, whereupon followed sticks
and stones, and other such popular arguments. It is no matter.
Plotinus begins--'

Simplicius was one of the last philosophers who taught in Athens,
one of the seven who were driven forth when Justinian, in his zeal
for Christianity, closed the schools. Guided by a rumour that
supreme wisdom was to be found in Persia, the sages journeyed to
that kingdom, where disappointment awaited them. After long
wanderings and many hardships, Simplicius came to Rome, and now had
sojourned here for a year or two, teaching such few as in these days
gave any thought to philosophy. Poor, and perhaps unduly proud, he
preferred his own very humble lodging to the hospitality which more
than one friend had offered him; and his open disregard for
religious practices, together with singularities of life and
demeanour, sufficiently explained the trouble that had come upon
him. Charges of sorcery were not uncommon in Rome at this time. Some
few years ago a commission of senators had sat in judgment upon two
nobles accused of magic, a leading article of proof against one of
them being that he had a horse which, when stroked, gave off sparks
of fire. On this account Decius was much troubled by the
philosopher's story. When the wound had been attended to, he
besought Simplicius not to go forth again to-day, and with some
difficulty prevailed.

'Why should it perturb you, O most excellent Decius,' said the sage,
'that a lover of wisdom is an offence to the untaught and the
foolish? Was it not ever thus? If philosophy may no longer find
peace at Athens, is it likely that she will be suffered to dwell at
ease in Rome?'

'Alas, no!' admitted Decius. 'But why, dear master, should you
invite the attacks of the ignorant?'

'I do no such thing. I live and act as seems good to me, that is
all. Should no one have the courage to do that, what hope would
there be, O Decius, for that most glorious liberty, the liberty of
the mind?'

The listener bent his head abashed. Then Simplicius began to read
from the manuscript, and Decius, who knew Greek fairly well--he
had lately completed certain translations from Plato, left
unfinished by Boethius--gave reverent attention. At a certain
point the philosopher paused to comment, for the subject was
difficult--nothing less than the nature of God. In God, according
to the system here expounded, there are three principles or
hypostases, united but unequal--the One, the Intelligence, the
Soul; which correspond, respectively, to the God of Plato, the God
of Aristotle, the God of Zeno. Usually curt and rather dry in his
utterances, Simplicius rose to a fervid eloquence as he expounded
this mysticism of Alexandria. Not that he accepted it as the final
truth, it was merely a step, though an important one, towards that
entire and absolute knowledge of which he believed that a glimpse
had been vouchsafed to him, even to him, in his more sublime hours.
As for Decius, the utmost effort never enabled him to attain
familiarity with these profound speculations: he was soon lost, and
found his brain whirling with words that had little or no
significance. At home in literature, in philosophy he did but strive
and falter and lose himself. When at length there came a silence, he
sighed deeply, his hand propping his forehead.

'Master, how few men can ever know God!'

'Few, few,' admitted the philosopher, his gaze upwards.

'I think I should be content,' said Decius, 'to love and praise Him.
Yet that meseems is no less hard.'

'No less,' was the reply. 'For, without knowledge, love and praise
are vain.'

But Decius' thought had another meaning.





CHAPTER XIV

SILVIA'S DREAM




It was the Paschal season, and Basil, careless at most times of
religious observances, did not neglect this supreme solemnity of his
faith. On Passion Day he fasted and received the Eucharist, Decius
doing the like, though with a half-smiling dreaminess which
contrasted with the other's troubled devotion. Since the death of
Petronilla, Basil had known moments of awe-stricken wonder or of
gloomy fear such as never before had visited him; for he entertained
no doubt that his imprecation had brought upon Petronilla her
dreadful doom, and this was a thought which had power to break his
rest. Neither to Marcian nor to Decius did he speak of it in plain
terms, merely hinting his belief that the cruel and treacherous
woman had provoked divine anger.

But the inclination to piety which resulted from such brooding was
in some measure counteracted by his hostile feeling towards all the
Church. Petronilla might have conceived the thought of imprisoning
Aurelia and Veranilda, but only with the aid of an influential
cleric such as Leander could she have carried it out so
successfully. The Church it was that held Veranilda captive; unless,
indeed, it had handed her over to the Greeks. This conviction made
his heart burn with wrath, which he could scarce subdue even whilst
worshipping the crucified Christ. His victim's heresy would of
course be Leander's excuse for what he had done; the daughter of
Maximus and the Gothic maiden were held in restraint for their
souls' good. Not long after Petronilla's death Basil had been driven
by his distress of mind to visit Gordian and Silvia, and to speak
with them of this suspicion. He saw that, for all their human
kindness, they were disposed rather, to approve than condemn the
deacon's supposed action, and he had gone forth from them in scarce
concealed bitterness.

Now, in the festival days of Easter, his thoughts again turned to
that house on the Clivus Scauri, so near to his own dwelling, yet so
remote from the world of turbid passions in which his lot was cast.
The household of Gordian seemed untouched by common cares; though
thoroughly human its domestic life, it had something of the calm,
the silence, of a monastery. None entered save those whom husband
and wife held in affection or in respect; idle gaiety was unknown
beneath their roof, and worldly ambition had no part in their
counsels. Because of the reverence these things inspired in him, and
because of his longing to speak with a pure-hearted woman who held
him in kindness, Basil again presented himself at his kinsman's
door. He was led directly to an inner room, where sat Silvia.

The severe fasts of Lent had left their mark upon the young face,
yet it was fresh and smooth in its delicate pallor, and almost
maidenly in its gentle smile. Silvia had blue eyes, and hair of the
chestnut hue; a simple, white fillet lay above her forehead; her
robe was of pale russet, adorned with the usual purple stripes and
edged with embroidery; on each hand she wore but one ring. When the
visitor entered, she was nursing her child, a boy of four years old,
named Gregorius, but at once she put him to sit upon a little stool
beside her.

'Welcome, dear cousin Basil,' was her greeting. 'We hoped this time
of gladness would turn your thoughts to us. My husband has been
called forth; but you will await his return?'

'It was you, lady cousin, whom I wished to see,' Basil replied. As
he spoke, he touched the curly head of the boy, who looked up at him
with large, grave eyes. 'Why is he so pale?'

'He has had a sickness,' answered the mother, in a low, tender
voice. 'Not many days ago, one might have feared he would be taken
from us. Our prayers prevailed, thanks to the intercession of the
holy Cosma and Damian, and of the blessed Theodore. When he seemed
to be dying, I bore him to the church in the Velabrum, and laid him
before the altar; and scarcely had I finished my prayer, when a
light seemed to shine upon his face, and he knew me again, and
smiled at me.'

Listening, the child took his mother's hand, and pressed it against
his wan little cheek. Then Silvia rang a bell that was beside her,
and a woman came to take the child away, he, as he walked in silence
from the room, looking back and smiling wistfully.

'I know not,' pursued Silvia, when they were alone, 'how we dare to
pray for any young life in times so dark as ours. But that we are
selfish in our human love, we should rather thank the Omnipotent
when it pleases Him to call one of these little ones, whom Christ
blessed, from a world against which His wrath is so manifestly
kindled. And yet,' she added, 'it must be right that we should
entreat for a life in danger; who can know to what it may be
destined?--what service it may render to God and man? One night
when I watched by Gregorius, weariness overcame me, and in a short
slumber I dreamt. That dream I shall never forget. It kept me in
heart and hope through the worst.'

'May I hear your dream?' asked Basil.

'Nay,' was the gentle reply, with a smile and a shake of the head,
'to you it would seem but foolishness. Let us speak of other things,
and first of yourself. You, too, are pale, good cousin. What have
you to tell me? What has come to pass since I saw you?'

With difficulty Basil found words to utter the thought which had led
him hither. He came to it by a roundabout way, and Silvia presently
understood: he was indirectly begging her to use her influence with
eminent churchmen at Rome, to discover whether Veranilda was yet
detained in Italy, or had been sent to the East. At their previous
interview he had kept up the pretence of being chiefly interested in
the fate of Aurelia, barely mentioning the Gothic maiden; but that
was in the presence of Gordian. Now he spoke not of Aurelia at all,
and so dwelt on Veranilda's name that his implied confession could
not be misunderstood. And Silvia listened with head bent,
interested, secretly moved, at heart troubled.

'What you ask,' she began, after a short silence, 'is not easy. If I
make inquiries of such of the clergy as I know, I must needs tell
them why I am doing so; and would they, in that case, think it well
to answer me?'

'You know the deacon Leander,' urged Basil. 'Can you not plead for
me with him, O Silvia?'

'Plead for you? Remember that it is impossible for me to assume that
the holy deacon knows anything of this matter. And, were that
difficulty removed, dare I plead for your union with one who is not
of our faith--one, moreover, whom you cannot wed without putting
yourself in grave peril?'

'Listen, gentle cousin!' exclaimed Basil eagerly. 'It may be that
Veranilda has already renounced the heresy of Anus. If not, she
would assuredly do so at my persuasion. So, that objection you may
dismiss. As for the danger to which our marriage might expose us,
our love would dare that--ay, and things much worse.'

'You speak so confidently of the Gothic maiden?' said Silvia, with a
look half-timid, half-amused. 'Was there, then, a veritable
plighting of troth between you?'

'There was, dear cousin. From you I will conceal nothing, for you
are good, you are compassionate.'

And whilst he poured forth the story of his love, not without tears,
Silvia gave sympathetic attention. The lady Petronilla had never
been one of her intimates, nor was the deacon Leander among those
ecclesiastics whom she most reverenced. When Basil had told all, her
reply was ready. All she could do would be to endeavour to learn
whether Veranilda remained in the charge of Petronilla's
confederate, or had been given up to the Greeks. From conversation
she had heard, Silvia inclined to this belief, that Bessas and his
subordinates were still vainly seeking.

'I can make you no promise, good Basil; but I will take counsel with
my husband (whom you can trust as you trust me), and see if indeed
anything may be learnt.'

The lover kissed her hands in ardent gratitude. Whilst they were
still talking confidentially, another visitor was announced, the
deacon Pelagius. Basil begged permission to withdraw before the
cleric entered; he was in no mood for conversation with deacons; and
Silvia pointed smilingly to the door by which he could retreat.

The hour was still early. Basil passed a day of hopefulness, and his
mood became exultant when, about sunset, a letter was brought to him
from Silvia.

'To-morrow morning, at the third hour,' she wrote, 'certain of our
kinsfolk and friends will assemble in this house to hear the
reverend man Arator read his poem on the Acts of the Holy Apostles.
This is an honour done to us, for only two or three persons have as
yet heard portions of the poem, which will soon be read publicly in
the church of the Holy Petrus ad Vincula. Let me welcome your
Amiability among my guests. After the reading, I shall beg you to be
acquainted with one who may perchance serve you.'

Scarcely had Basil read this, when another missive was put into his
hands. It was from Heliodora, and written, as usual, in Greek
characters.

'To-morrow, after the ninth hour, you are bidden hither. Come if you
choose. If you do not, I shall have forgotten something I have
learnt.'

To this he paid little heed; it might have significance, it might
have none. If the morning sustained his hope, he would be able to
resist the temptation of the afternoon. So he cherished Silvia's
letter, and flung Heliodora's contemptuously aside.

Reaching Gordian's house next morning a little before the appointed
hour, he found the members of the family and one or two guests
assembled in a circular room, with a dome pierced to admit light:
marble seats, covered with cushions, rose amphitheatre-wise on one
half of the circle, and opposite was a chair for the reader. In this
hall Sidonius Apollinaris had declaimed his panegyric on the Emperor
Avitus; here the noble Boethius had been heard, and, in earlier
days, the poet Claudian. Beside Silvia stood her husband's two
sisters, Tarsilla and Aemiliana, both of whom, it had begun to be
rumoured, though still in the flower of their youth, desired to
enter the monastic life. At the younger, who was beautiful, Basil
glanced diffidently, remembering that she might have been his wife;
but Aemiliana knew nothing of the thought her brother had
entertained, and her eyes were calm as those of a little child. When
other guests appeared, Basil drew aside, for most of the persons who
entered were strangers to him. Ecclesiastics grew numerous; among
them might be distinguished a tall, meagre, bald-headed man, the
sub-deacon Arator, who held in his hand the manuscript from which he
was to read. Among the latest to arrive was a lady, stricken in
years and bowed with much grief, upon whom all eyes were
respectfully bent as Gordian conducted her to a place of honour.
This was Rusticiana, the daughter of Symmachus, the widow of
Boethius. When Basil looked at her, and thought of the anguish
through which her life had passed in that gloomy evening of the
reign of Theodoric, he felt himself for a moment at one with those
who rejected and scorned the Gothic dominion. A great unhappiness
flooded his heart and mind; he forgot what was passing about him,
and only returned to himself when there sounded the voice of the
reader.

Arator's poetic version of the Acts of the Apostles was written in
hexameters; whether good or ill, Basil felt unable to decide, and he
wished Decius had been here to whisper a critical comment. In any
case he would have found the reading wearisome; that monotonous,
indistinct voice soon irritated him, and at length made him drowsy.
But admiration frequently broke out from the audience, and at the
end applause became enthusiasm. Unspeakably glad that the ceremony
was over, Basil mingled with the moving crowd, and drew towards
Silvia. At length their eyes met; the lady thereupon spoke a word to
a cleric who was standing by her, and in the next moment summoned
Basil with a movement of the head. There was a brief formality, then
Basil found himself led aside by the deacon Pelagius, who spoke to
him in a grave, kind voice very pleasant to the ear, with the
courtesy of a finished man of the world, and at the same time with a
firmness of note, a directness of purpose, which did not fail to
impress the listener.

Aged about five-and-thirty, bearing upon his countenance the
signature of noble birth, Pelagius was at this moment the most
accomplished diplomat that the Church of Rome possessed. He had
spent some years at Byzantium, as papal emissary; had engaged the
confidence of Justinian; and, on his return, had brought an Imperial
invitation to Vigilius, who was requested to set forth for the East
as soon as possible. Pope Vigilius had the misfortune to differ on
certain dogmatic questions with that pious and acute theologian the
Empress Theodora; being a man of little energy or courage, he durst
not defy Byzantium, as he gladly would have done, nor yet knew how
to deal subtly for his own ends with the Eastern despots; he
lingered his departure, and in the meantime earned hatred at Rome
because of his inability to feed the populace. It was already
decided that, during his absence, the Holy Father should be
represented by Pelagius, an arrangement very agreeable to that party
in the Church which upheld Imperial supremacy, but less so to those
ecclesiastics--a majority--who desired the independence of Rome
in religious matters, and the recognition of Peter's successor as
Patriarch of Christendom. In speaking to such a personage as this on
Basil's behalf, Silvia had not reflected that the friend of
Justinian was little likely to take the part of one who desired to
frustrate an Imperial command; she thought only of his great
influence, and of the fact that he looked with no favour on the
deacon Leander, an anti-imperialist. What was again unfortunate for
Basil, Pelagius had heard, before leaving Byzantium, of the
Emperor's wish to discover Veranilda, and had already made inquiries
on this subject in Rome. He was glad, then, to speak with this young
noble, whose mind he found it very easy to read, and whom, without
the least harshness, he resolved to deter from his pursuit of a
Gothic bride.

The colloquy was not long. Buoyed by his ardour, Basil interpreted
the first words of courteous preamble in the most hopeful sense.
What followed gave him pause; he saw a shadow of obstacle arise.
Another moment, and the obstacle had become very real; it grew to
vastness, to insuperability He stood, as it were, looking into the
very eyes of the Serene Majesty of Byzantium. Not that the speaker
used a tone of peremptory discouragement. Granting the indispensable
condition that Veranilda became a Catholic, it was not an impossible
thing, said Pelagius, that Basil should obtain her as a wife; _but_
it could only be by the grace of the Emperor. Veranilda had been
summoned to Byzantium. If Basil chose to follow her thither, and sue
for her before the throne, why, this was open to him, as to any
other Roman of noble birth. It would have been idle indeed to seek
to learn from Pelagius whether Veranilda had already left Italy, his
tone was that of omniscience, but his brow altogether forbade
interrogation. Basil, in despair, ventured one inquiry. If he
desired to go to Byzantium, could he obtain leave of departure from
the Greek commandant, under whose ban he lay? The reply was
unhesitating; at any moment, permission could be granted. Therewith
the conversation came to an end, and Basil, hating the face of man,
stole away into solitude.

Entering his own house, he learnt that Marcian was within. For a
month they had not seen each other, Marcian having been absent on
missions of the wonted double tenor; they met affectionately as
ever, then Basil flung himself down, like one crushed by sudden
calamity.

'What now?' asked his friend, with a rallying rather than a
sympathetic air.

'No matter,' Basil replied. 'You are weary of my troubles, and I can
no longer talk of them.'

'What troubles? The old story still? I thought you had found
solace?'

Basil looked an indignant wonder. His friend, sitting on the couch
beside him, continued in the same half-bantering tone:

'When were you last at the house of a certain disconsolate widow, on
the Quirinal?'

'What mean you?' cried the other, starting up, with sudden fury in
his eyes. 'Are you vowed with my enemies to drive me mad?'

'Not I, dear Basil; but hear the truth. Only late last night I
entered the gates of Rome, and since I rose this morning three
several persons have spoken your name to me together with that of
Heliodora.'

'They are black and villainous liars! And you, Marcian, so ready to
believe them? Tell me their names, their names!'

'Peace! One would think you mad indeed. You know the son of Opilio,
young Vivian?'

'I know him!' answered Basil scornfully, 'as I know the lousy beggar
who sits before St. Clement's Church, or the African who tumbles in
Trajan's forum.'

'Even so. This same spark of fashion stops me in the Vicus Longus.
"You are the friend of Basil," quoth he. "Give him this warning. If
ever I chance to find him near the portico of Heliodora, I will
drive my dagger into his heart," and on he struts, leaving me so
amazed that I forgot even to fetch the cub a box o' the ear. But I
had not long to wait for an explanation of his insolence. Whom
should I next meet but the solemn-visaged Opilio. "So your friend
Basil," he began, "has forgotten his Gothic love?" We talked, and I
learnt from him that you were the hot rival of Vivian for
Heliodora's favour. Nay, I do but repeat what you ought to hear. Can
such gossip begin without cause? Tell me now, how often have you
been yonder since I left Rome?'

Basil could scarce contain himself. He had visited Heliodora, yes,
but merely because he would neglect no chance of learning where
Veranilda was imprisoned; it was not impossible that through this
woman such a secret might be discovered. He the rival of that
debauched boy! He the lover of Heliodora! Had he sunk so low in the
esteem of his best friend? Why, then, it was time indeed to be gone:
befall him what might, he could not be unhappier in Constantinople
than here in Rome.

At these words, Marcian checked him with a surprised inquiry. What
had turned his thoughts to Constantinople? Basil related the events
of yesterday and of this morning.

'What other counsel could you have expected from Pelagius?' said
Marcian, after listening attentively. 'But on one point I can
reassure you. Veranilda has not yet fallen into the hands of the
Greeks.'

'How do you know that?' exclaimed Basil eagerly.

'Enough that I do know it. Whilst you have been idling here--
forgive me, good Basil--I have travelled far and conversed with
many men. And I have something else to tell you, which will
perchance fall less agreeably upon your ear. The fame of Veranilda
promises to go forth over all lands. King Totila himself has heard
of her, and would fain behold this ornament of his race.'

'Totila!'

'When Cumae was besieged by the Goths three months ago, Chorsoman--
whom you have not forgotten--made terms with Totila, and was
allowed to keep some portion of the plunder he had amassed. Thinking
to do the king a pleasure, he told him of Veranilda, of the commands
regarding her which had come from the East, and of her vanishing no
one knew whither. And of these things, O Basil, did Totila himself,
with his royal mouth, speak unto me not many days gone by.'

'I see not how that concerns me,' said Basil wearily.

'True, it may not. Yet, if I were wooing a wife, I had rather seek
her at the hands of Totila than at those of Justinian. To be sure, I
did not speak of you to the king; that would have been less than
discreet. But Totila will ere long be lord of all Italy, and who
knows but the deacon Leander, no friend of Constantinople, might see
his interest and his satisfaction in yielding Veranilda rather to
the Goth than to the Greek?'

Basil started. Such a thought had never entered his mind, yet he saw
probability in the suggestion.

'You assure me,' he said, 'that she has not yet been surrendered. I
find that hard to believe. Knowing in whose power she is, how comes
it that Bessas does not seize the insolent Leander, and force the
truth from him? Were I the commander, would I be baffled for an hour
by that sleek deacon?'

'Were you commander, O best Basil,' replied Marcian, smiling, 'you
would see things in another light. Bessas does not lay hands upon
the deacon because it is much more to his profit to have the clergy
of Rome for his friends than for his enemies. Whether Veranilda be
discovered or not, he cares little; I began to suspect that when I
saw that you came off so easily from your dealings with him. 'Tis a
long road to Constantinople, and the Thracian well knows that he may
perchance never travel it again. His one care is to heap up treasure
for to-day; the morrow may look after itself. But let us return to
the point from which we started. Do you think in earnest of voyaging
to the Bosporus?'

'I should only choose a hazard so desperate were it the sole chance
that remained of recovering Veranilda.'

'Wait, then, yet awhile. But take my counsel, and do not wait in
Rome.'

To this advice Basil gave willing ear. Since he had heard from
Pelagius that he was free to quit the city, he was all but resolved
to be gone. One thought alone detained him; he still imagined that
Heliodora might have means such as she professed of aiding him in
his search, and that, no matter how, he might subdue her will to his
own. She, of course, aimed only at enslaving him, and he knew her
capable of any wickedness in the pursuit of her ends; for this very
reason was he tempted into the conflict with her, a conflict in
which his passions would have no small part, and whether for or
against him could not be foreseen. Once more he would visit
Heliodora; if fruitlessly, then for the last time.

But of this decision he did not speak to Marcian.





CHAPTER XV

YOUNG ROME




At the hour named by Heliodora, Basil set forth alone and rode by
unfrequented ways towards the street on the Quirinal named Alta
Semita. A sense of shame forbade him to make known even to his
slaves whither he was going. He kept repeating to himself that it
was for the last time; and perhaps a nobler motive would have
withheld him altogether, had not the story told by Marcian of his
'rival's' insolent menace rankled in him and urged him to show that
he felt no fear. Chance led him past the little church of St.
Agatha, which belonged to the Arians; it helped him to fix his
thoughts upon Veranilda, and silently he swore that no temptation
should prevail against the fidelity due to his beloved.

Not far from the Thermae of Constantine, and over against that
long-ruined sanctuary of ancient Rome, the Temple of Quirinus, he
drew rein at a great house with a semicircular portico of Carystian
columns, before which stood a bronze bull, the ornament of a
fountain now waterless; on either side of the doorway was a
Molossian hound in marble. A carriage and a litter waiting here
showed that Heliodora had visitors. This caused Basil to hesitate
for a moment but he decided to enter none the less. At his knock he
was at once admitted, and a slave was sent to look after his horse.

Few houses in Rome contained so many fine works of ancient sculpture
as this, for its master had been distinguished by his love of such
things in a time when few cared for them. Some he had purchased at a
great price; more than one masterpiece he had saved from oblivion
amid ruins, or from the common fate of destruction in a lime-kiln.
Well for him had he been content to pass his latter years with the
cold creations of the sculptor; but he turned his eyes upon
consummate beauty in flesh and blood, and this, the last of his
purchases, proved the costliest of all.

The atrium was richly adorned. A colossal bust of Berenice faced the
great head of an Amazon, whilst numerous statues, busts, and vases
stood between the pillars; mosaics on the floor represented hunting
scenes, the excellence of the work no less than its worn condition
showing it to be of a time long gone by. Following his conductor,
Basil passed along a corridor, and into a peristyle with a double
colonnade. In the midst of a little garden, planted with flowering
shrubs, rose the statue which its late owner had most prized, an
admirable copy of the Aphrodite of Cnidos; it stood upon a pedestal
of black basalt and was protected by a light canopy with slender
columns in all but transparent alabaster. Round about it were marble
seats, and here, shielded from the sun by little silken awnings, sat
Heliodora and her guests. At once Basil became aware of the young
Vivian, whose boyish form (he was but some eighteen years old)
lounged among cushions on the seat nearest to Heliodora, his eyes
fixed upon her beauty in a languishing gaze, which, as soon as he
beheld the new comer, flashed into fierceness. The others were two
women, young and comely, whose extravagant costume and the attitudes
in which they reclined proved them suitable companions of the lady
of the house. Whilst yet at some distance, Basil had heard a
feminine voice rising to shrillness, and as he approached the group
he found a discussion going on which threatened to become more than
vivacious. The shrill speaker he had met here before, who she was,
he knew not, save that she bore the name of Muscula.

'You--you--you!' this lady was exclaiming contemptuously. 'You
say this, and you say that! Mother of God! What do _you_ know about
racing? When were you last in the circus at Constantinople? At eight
years old you once told me. You have a good memory if you can
remember as far back as that!'

She shrieked a laugh, which no one else joined in. Heliodora, to
whom the speech was addressed, affected to smile as in lofty
tolerance of infantine pettishness. At this moment Basil stepped up
to her, and kissed her hand; As though for contrast with Muscula's
utterance, she greeted him in the softest tone her voice could
compass, inviting him with a gesture to take a place at her side, or
rather at her feet, for she was reclining on a long couch.
Heliodora's robe was of hyacinth blue, broidered in silver thread
with elaborate designs. Bracelets, chains, and rings shone about her
in the wonted profusion. Above the flat coils of her hair lay a
little bunch of grapes between two vine leaves, wrought in gold, and
at her waist hung a dagger, the silver sheath chased with forms of
animals. Standing behind her the little Anglian slave Laetus gently
fanned her with a peacock's tail, or sprinkled her with perfume from
a vial; the air was heavy with Sabaean odours.

'Ah, here is lord Basil!' pursued Muscula with a mischievous glance
at Vivian. 'He has lived at Constantinople lately--not thirty or
forty years ago. Tell us, sweet lord'--she bent towards him with
large, rolling eyes--'was it not Helladius who won for the Greens
when Thomas the Blue was overturned and killed?'

'For all I know it may have been,' replied Basil carelessly; he had
scarce heard the question.

'I swear you are wrong, Muscula,' put in the third lady. 'The lord
Basil cares naught for such things, and would not contradict you
lest you should scratch his face--so dangerous you look, much more
like a cat than a mouse. By the beard of Holy Peter! should not
Heliodora know, who, though she is too young to remember it herself,
has heard of it many a time from her father. You think too much of
yourself, O Muscula, since you ate crumbs from the hands of Bessas.'

The boy Vivian gave a loud laugh, rolling on his cushions.

'O witty Galla!' he exclaimed. 'Crumbs from the hand of Bessas. Say
on, say on; I love your spicy wit, O Galla! Cannot you find
something sharp, for the most grave, the most virtuous Basil?'

'Hold your saucy tongue, child,' said Heliodora with a pouting
smile. 'But it is true that Muscula has won advancement. One doesn't
need to have a very long memory to recall her arrival in Rome. There
are who say that she came as suckling nurse in a lady's train, with
the promise of marriage to a freedman when her mistress's baby was
weaned. That is malice, of course; poor Muscula has had many
enemies. For my part, I have never doubted that she was suckling her
own child, nor that its father was a man of honourable name, and not
a slave of the Circus stables as some said.'

Again Vivian rolled on the cushions in mirth, until he caught
Basil's eye as it glanced at him with infinite scorn. Then he
started to a sitting posture, fingered the handle of his dagger, and
glared at Heliodora's neighbour with all the insolent ferocity of
which his face was capable. This youth was the son of a man whose
name sounded ill to any Roman patriot,--of that Opilio, who,
having advanced to high rank under King Theodoric, was guilty of
frauds, fell from his eminence, and, in hope of regaining the king's
favour, forged evidence of treachery against Boethius. His attire
followed the latest model from Byzantium: a loose, long-sleeved
tunic, descending to the feet, its hue a dark yellow, and over that
a long mantle of white silk, held together upon one shoulder by a
great silver buckle in the form of a running horse; silken shoes,
gold embroidered, with leather soles dyed purple; and on each wrist
a bracelet. His black hair was short, and crisped into multitudinous
curls with a narrow band of gold pressing it from the forehead to
the ears.

'Oh, look at little Vivian!' cried Muscula. 'He has the eyes of an
angry rat. What vexes him? Is it because he saw Basil touch
Heliodora's slipper?'

'If I had!' sputtered the boy. 'By the devil, if I had!'

'Oh, he affrights me!' went on the mocking woman. 'Heliodora, stroke
his curls, and give him a kiss, I beseech you. Who knows what
dreadful thing may happen else?'

'I have had enough of this,' said Gall a, rising with a careless
laugh. 'Your house has been intolerable, most dear Heliodora, since
you made friends with Muscula. Why you did, I'm sure I don't know;
but for my part I take a respectful leave, noble lady, until I hear
that this mouse of the Palatine has ceased to amuse you with its
pretty pranks. May I never be saved if she is fit company for women
who respect themselves.'

'Why such hurry, O chaste Galla!' exclaimed Muscula. 'Is your
husband at home for once? I can answer for it he is not there very
often; the wiser man he.'

'Slap her face, Galla,' cried Vivian. 'At her! She will run before
you.'

Galla moved as if to act upon this advice, but the voice of
Heliodora, peremptory, resonant, checked her step.

'None of that! Get you gone, both of you, and try conclusions if you
will in the open street. Off! Pack! By the Virgin Mother, if you
linger I will have you flung out of doors.'

In her amazement and indignation, Galla rose to the tips of her
feet.

'This to _me_!' she screamed. 'To me, the only woman of noble birth
and honest life who still remained your friend! Wanton! witch!
poisoner!'

Basil sprang up and walked aside, overcome with shame at the scene
enacted before him, and fearing it would end in ignoble violence. He
heard Muscula's shriek of laughter, a shout of anger from Vivian,
and the continued railing of Galla; then, ere he had taken a dozen
steps, a hand touched him, and Heliodora's voice sounded low at his
ear.

'You are right, dear Basil. Only an accident prevented me from being
alone at your hour. Forgive me. We will go apart from these
base-tongued creatures.'

But almost in the same moment sounded another voice, that of
Muscula, who had sprung after them.

'Sweet lord Basil,' she murmured at his ear, 'a moment's patience,
for I have that to say which is worth your hearing.'

Heliodora stepped aside. Pale with fury, she held herself in an
attitude of contemptuous indifference.

'Speak and have done!' exclaimed Basil harshly.

'But a word, Illustrious. I know well why you are here. Not for this
woman's painted cheeks and essence-soaked hair: you had enough of
that long ago. You come because she pretends to know a secret which
concerns you nearly. It was to discover this secret that she sought
friendship with me. But do not imagine, sweet lord, that I tell all
I know to Heliodora. I have played with her curiosity and fooled
her. From me she has learnt nothing true. Even if she desired to
tell you the truth--and be sure she does not--she could only
mislead you.'

Basil was standing between the two women, his eyes on the ground.
Had he watched Heliodora at this moment, he would have understood
the sudden start with which Muscula sprang nearer to him as if for
protection.

'I alone,' she continued, in a voice not so subdued but that
Heliodora could hear every word. 'I alone can discover for you what
you wish to know. Give yourself no more trouble in suing to a woman
of whom you are weary--a woman evil and dangerous as a serpent.
When you choose to seek me, dear lord, I will befriend you. Till
that day, fare you well, and beware of other things than the
silver-hilted dagger--which she would draw upon me did she dare.
But she knows that I too have my little bosom friend--' she touched
her waist--'though it does not glitter before every eye.'

Therewith Muscula turned and tripped off, looking back to laugh
aloud before she disappeared in the corridor. Galla was already
gone, half persuaded, half threatened away by Vivian, who now stood
with knitted brows glaring at Basil.

'I must get rid of this boy,' said Heliodora to her companion. 'In a
moment we shall be alone.'

Basil was held from taking curt leave only by Vivian's insolent
eyes; when Heliodora moved, he stepped slowly after her.

'Your company is precious, dear Vivian,' he heard her say, 'but you
must not spoil me with too much of it. Why did you not go away with
Galla, whose wit so charms you, and whose husband is so complaisant?
There, kiss my little finger, and say good-bye.'

'That shall be when it pleases me,' was Vivian's reply. 'To-day I
have a mind to sup with you, Heliodora. Let that intruder know it;
or I will do so myself.'

Heliodora had the air of humouring a jest. Putting forth a hand, she
caught the stripling's ear and pinched it shrewdly.

'Little lord,' she said, 'you take too large a liberty.'

Whereto Vivian replied with a pleasantry so broad and so significant
that Heliodora's cheek fired; for she saw that Basil stood within
hearing.

'Nay, I must be brief with you, young monkey!' she exclaimed. 'Away!
When I am at leisure for your tricks I will send for you. Be off!'

'And leave you with that . . .?' cried the other, using a villainous
word.

Hereupon Basil addressed him.

'Whether you stay or go, foul mouth, is naught to me. I am myself in
haste to be gone, but I will not leave you without a lesson by
which, perchance, you may profit.'

As he uttered the last word, he dealt Vivian such a buffet on the
side of the head with his open hand that the youngster staggered.
The result of this, Basil had well foreseen; he stood watchful, and
in an instant, as a dagger gleamed before his eyes, grasped the
descending arm that wielded it. Vivian struggled furiously, but was
overcome by the other's strength. Flung violently to the ground, his
head struck against the edge of a marble seat, and he lay senseless.

Heliodora looked on with the eyes with which she had often followed
a fight between man and beast in the amphitheatre. Pride, and
something more, lit up her countenance as she turned to Basil.

'Brave generous!' she exclaimed, her hands clasped against her
bosom. 'Not even to draw your dagger! Noble Basil!'

'Have him looked to,' was the reply; 'and console him as you choose.
Lady, I bid you farewell.'

For a moment Heliodora stood as though she would let him thus
depart. Basil was nearing the entrance to the corridor, when she
sprang after him. Her arms were about his neck; her body clung
against his; she breathed hotly into his eyes as she panted forth
words, Latin, Greek, all burning with shameless desire. But Basil
was not thus to be subdued. The things that he had heard and seen,
and now at last the hand-to-hand conflict, had put far from him all
temptation of the flesh; his senses were cold as the marbles round
about him. This woman, who had never been anything to him but a lure
and a peril, whom he had regarded with the contempt natural in one
of his birth towards all but a very few of her sex, now disgusted
him. He freed himself from her embrace with little ceremony.

'Have I deceived you?' he asked. 'Have I pretended to come here for
anything but my own purpose, which you pretended to serve?'

Heliodora stood in a strange attitude, her arms thrown back, her
body leaning forward--much like some fierce and beautiful animal
watching the moment to spring.

'Do you believe what that harlot said?' she asked in a thick voice.

'Enough of it to understand my folly in hoping to learn anything
through you. Let us part, and think of each other no more.'

She caught his arm and put her face close to his.

'Leave me thus, and your life shall pay for it.'

Basil laughed scornfully.

'That cockerel,' he replied, pointing to Vivian, who was just
stirring, 'sent me a message this morning, that if I valued my life
I should not come here. I heed your threat no more than his.'

They looked into each other's eyes, and Heliodora, deep read in the
looks of men, knew that her desire was frustrate.

'Go then,' she said. 'Go quickly, lest the boy pursue you His second
aim might be surer.'

Basil deigned no reply. He went into the vestibule, waited there
until his horse was brought up, and rode away.

His head bent, scarce noting the way he took, he found himself at
the entrance to Trajan's Forum. Here he checked his horse, and
seemed to be contemplating that scene which for centuries had
excited the wonder and the awe of men. But when he rode on over the
grass-grown pavement, he was as little observant of the arches,
statues, galleries, and of that great column soaring between
Basilica and Temple, as of the people who moved hither and thither,
sparse, diminutive. Still brooding, he came into the Via Lata and to
the house of Marcian.

Marcian, said the porter, was closeted with certain visitors.

'Make known to him,' said Basil, 'that I would speak but a word in
private.'

They met in the atrium. Marcian smiled oddly.

'If you come to tell me what you have heard this afternoon,' he
whispered, 'spare your breath. I know it already.'

'How can that be?'

'I have seen an angry woman. Angry women are always either very
mischievous or very useful. In this case I hope to make use of her.
But I can tell you nothing yet, and I would that you were far from
Rome. Could I but persuade you to be gone, dear Basil.'

'I need no more persuading,' replied the other, with sudden resolve.
'If it be true that I am free to leave the city, I go hence
to-morrow.'

Marcian's face lighted up.

'To Asculum, then?'

'Since here I have no hope. Can I trust you, Marcian?' he added,
grasping his friend's hand.

'As yourself--nay, better.'

'Then, to Asculum.'





CHAPTER XVI

WHISPERS




The greater part of southern Italy was once more held by the Goths.
Whilst the long blockade of Neapolis went on, Totila found time to
subdue all that lay between that city and the Ionian Sea, meeting,
indeed, with little resistance among the country-folk, or from the
inhabitants of the mostly unwalled towns. The Imperial forces which
should have been arrayed against him had wintered in various cities
of the north, where their leaders found all they at present cared
for, repose and plunder; their pay long in arrear, and hardly to be
hoped for, the Greek soldiers grew insubordinate, lived as they
would or could, and with the coming of spring deserted in numbers to
the victorious enemy. Appeals to Byzantium for reinforcements had as
yet resulted only in the sending of a small, ill-equipped fleet,
which, after much delay in Sicilian ports, sailed for Neapolis, only
to be surprised by a storm, and utterly wrecked on the shores of the
great bay. Not long after the news of this disaster, it was reported
in Rome that Neapolis, hopeless of relief, had opened her gates, and
presently the report had strange confirmation. There arrived by the
Appian Way officers of the garrison which had surrendered; not as
harassed fugitives, but travelling with all convenience and
security, the Gothic king himself having expedited their journey and
sent guides with them lest they should miss the road. Nor was this
the most wonderful of the things they had to relate. For they told
of humanity on the part of the barbarian conqueror such as had no
parallel in any story of warfare known to Greek or Roman; how the
Neapolitans being so famine-stricken that they could scarce stand on
their legs, King Totila would not at once send plentiful stores into
the town, lest the sufferers should die of surfeit, but ministered
to their needs even as a friendly physician would have done, giving
them at first little food, and more as their strength revived. To be
sure, there were partisans of the Empire in Rome who scoffed at
those who narrated, and those who believed, a story so incredible.
On the Palatine, it was at first received with roars of laughter, in
which the lady Muscula's shrill voice had its part. When
confirmation had put the thing beyond dispute, Bessas and his
supporters made a standing joke of it; if any one fell sick their
word was: 'Send for the learned Totila'; and when there was talk of
a siege of Rome, they declared that their greatest fear, should the
city fall, was of being dieted and physicked by the victor.

Romans there were, however, who heard all this in another spirit.
The ill-fed populace had long ago become ready for any change which
might benefit their stomachs, and the name of Totila was to them
significant of all they lacked under the Greeks. 'Let the Goth come
quickly!' passed from mouth to mouth wherever the vulgar durst speak
what they thought. Among the nobles, prejudice of race and religion
and immemorial pride ensured predominance to the Imperialists, but
even here a Gothic party existed, and imprudent utterances had
brought certain senators into suspicion. The most active friend of
Totila, however, was one whom Bessas never thought of suspecting,
having, as he thought, such evidence of the man's devotion to the
Greek cause. Marcian had played his double part with extraordinary
skill and with boldness which dared every risk. He was now exerting
himself in manifold ways, subtly, persistently, for the supreme
achievement of his intrigue, the delivery of Rome from Byzantine
tyranny.

Among the many persons whom he made to serve his ends without
admitting them to his confidence was Galla, the wife of a noble whom
Amalasuntha had employed in her secret communications with
Byzantium, and who was now one of the intimates of Bessas. A light
woman, living as she pleased because of her husband's indifference,
Galla knew and cared nothing about affairs of state, and on that
account was the more useful to Marcian. She believed him in love
with her, and he encouraged the belief; flattering her with pretence
at timidity, as though he would fain have spoken but durst not.
Regarding him as her slave, Galla amused herself by sometimes coming
to his house, where, as if in the pride of chastity, she received
his devotion, and meanwhile told him things he was glad to know. And
thus it happened on that day of the quarrel between Heliodora and
Muscula, wherein Galla unexpectedly found herself involved. Bubbling
over with wrath against Heliodora, she at once sought out Marcian,
acquainted him with all that had happened, and made evident her
desire to be in some way avenged. Marcian saw in this trivial affair
the opportunity for a scheme of the gravest import; difficult,
perilous, perhaps impracticable, but so tempting in its
possibilities that he soon resolved to hazard everything on the
chance of success. Basil's departure from Rome, which he had desired
for other reasons, fell pat for the device now shaping itself in his
mind. A day or two after, early in the morning, he went to
Heliodora's house, and sent in a message begging private speech with
the lady. As he had expected, he was received forthwith, Heliodora
being aware of his friendship with Basil. Between her and Marcian
the acquaintance was but slight; he had hitherto regarded her as
unserviceable, because too dangerous. It was because of her
dangerous qualities that he now sought her, and his courage grew as
the conversation became intimate.

He began with a confession. Head hanging, visage gloomy, in slow,
indirect, abashed language, he let it be understood that though
truly Basil's friend, he had all along been secretly doing his
utmost to frustrate the lover's search for the Gothic maiden
Veranilda, and, as part of this purpose, had striven to turn Basil's
thoughts to Heliodora. That he had had no better success grieved him
to the heart. All who wished Basil well, desired that he should
marry a lady of his own rank, his own religion, and could he but
have won a wife such as Heliodora!

'Alas!' sighed Marcian, 'it was too much to hope. How could you be
other than cold to him? Had you deigned, thrice gracious lady, to
set your beauty, your gifts, in contest with his memory of that
other!'

In every man that approached her, Heliodora suspected a selfish aim,
but it was seldom that she talked with one whose subtlety seemed the
equal of her own. The little she knew of Marcian had predisposed her
to regard him as a cold and melancholy nature, quite uninteresting;
she eyed him now with her keenest scrutiny, puzzled by his story,
vainly seeking its significance.

'Your friend complained to you of my coldness?' she said distantly.

'He scarce spoke of you. I knew too well with what hope he came
here. When he found it vain, he turned away in bitterness.'

This sounded like truth to one who knew Basil. After a moment's
reflection, Heliodora made another inquiry, and in a tone of less
indifference.

'Why, lord Marcian, do you come to tell me this? Basil has quitted
Rome. You can scarce ask me to pursue him.'

'Lady,' was the sad reply, 'I will not even yet abandon hope. But
this is not the moment to plead his cause with you, and indeed I
came with a thought more selfish.'

Ready to believe whatever might be uttered with such preface,
Heliodora smiled and bade the speaker continue. Again Marcian's head
drooped; again his words became hesitant, vague. But their purpose
at length grew unmistakable; unhappy that he was, he himself loved
Veranilda, and the vehemence of his passion overcame his loyalty in
friendship; never whilst he lived should Basil wed the Gothic
maiden. This revelation astonished Heliodora; she inquired when and
how Marcian had become enamoured, and heard in reply a detailed
narrative, part truth, part false, of the events at Surrentum, known
to her as yet only in outline and without any mention of Marcian's
part in them. Upon her surprise followed malicious joy. Was there no
means, she asked, of discovering Veranilda? And the other in a low
voice made answer that he knew where she was--knew but too well.

'I shall not ask you to tell me the secret,' said Heliodora, with a
smile.

'Gracious lady,' pursued Marcian, 'it is for the purpose of
revealing it to you that I am here. Veranilda is in the palace, held
in guard by Bessas till she can have escort to Constantinople.'

'Ha! You are sure of that?'

'I have it on testimony that cannot be doubted.'

'Why then,' exclaimed Heliodora, all but betraying her exultation in
the thought, 'there is little chance that Basil's love will
prosper.'

'Little chance, dear lady, I hope and believe, but I have confessed
to you that I speak as a self-seeker and a faithless friend. It is
not enough that Basil may not wed her; I would fain have her for
myself.'

The listener laughed. She began to think this man something of a
simpleton.

'Why, my excellent Marcian, I will give you all my sympathy and wish
you good fortune. But that any one may do. What more do you expect
of me?'

Marcian looked towards the open doorway. They were seated in a
luxurious little room, lighted from the peristyle, its adornments in
sculpture a sleeping Hermaphrodite and a drunken satyr; on the wall
were certain marble low-reliefs, that behind Heliodora representing
Hylas drawn down by the Naiads.

'Speak without fear,' she reassured him. 'In this house, believe me,
no one dare play the eavesdropper.'

'I have to speak,' said Marcian, bending forward, 'of things
perilous--a life hanging on every word. Only to one of whose
magnanimity I felt assured should I venture to disclose my thought.
You have heard,' he proceeded after a pause, 'and, yet I am
perchance wrong in supposing that such idle talk could reach your
ears, let me make known to you then, that with Bessas in the palace
dwells a fair woman (or so they say, for I have not seen her) named
Muscula. She is said to have much power with the commander.'

The listener's countenance had darkened. Regarding Marcian with
haughty coldness, she asked him how this could concern _her_. He, in
appearance dismayed, falteringly entreated her pardon.

'Be not angered, O noble Heliodora! I did not presume to think that
you yourself had any acquaintance with this woman. I wished to make
known to you things that I have heard of her--things which I doubt
not are true. But, as it is only in my own interest that I speak, I
will say no more until I have your permission.'

This having been disdainfully granted, Marcian proceeded with
seeming timid boldness, marking in his listener's eyes the eager
interest with which she followed him. Though every detail of the
story was of his own invention, its plausibility had power upon one
whose passions inclined her to believe it. He told then that
Muscula, bribed by Basil, was secretly endeavouring to procure the
release of Veranilda, which should be made to appear an escape of
Basil's contriving. The lover's visits to Heliodora, he said, and
his supposed ignorance as to where Veranilda was detained, were part
of the plot. Already Muscula had so far wrought upon Bessas that
success seemed within view, and Basil's departure from Rome was only
a pretence; he waited near at hand, ready to carry off his beloved.

'How come you to know all this?' Heliodora asked bluntly at the
first pause.

'That also I will tell you,' answered Marcian. 'It is through some
one whom Muscula holds of more account than Bessas, and with whom
she schemes against him.'

'By the Holy' Mother!' exclaimed Heliodora, 'that is yourself.'

Marcian shook his head.

'Not so, gracious lady.'

'Nay, why should you scruple to confess it? You love Veranilda, and
do you think I could not pardon an intrigue which lay on your way to
her?'

'Nevertheless it is not I,' persisted the other gravely.

'Be it so,' said Heliodora. 'And in all this, my good Marcian, what
part have I? How does it regard me? What do you seek of me?'

Once more the man seemed overcome with confusion.

'Indeed I scarce know,' he murmured. 'I hardly dare to think what
was in my mind when I sought you. I came to you, O Heliodora, as to
one before whom men bow, one whose beauty is resistless, whose wish
is a command. What gave me courage was a word that fell from Bessas
himself when I sat at table with him yesterday. "Wore I the purple,"
he said, "Heliodora should be my Empress."'

'Bessas said that?'

'He did--and in the presence of Muscula, who heard it, I am bound
to say, with a sour visage.'

Heliodora threw back her head and laughed. 'I think he has scarce
seen me thrice,' fell from her musingly. 'Tell him from me,' she
added, 'that it is indiscreet to talk of wearing the purple before
those who may report his words.'

There was a silence. Marcian appeared to brood, and Heliodora did
her best to read his face. If, she asked herself; he had told her
falsehoods, to what end had he contrived them? Nothing that she
could conjecture was for a moment satisfying. If he told the truth,
what an opportunity were here for revenge on Muscula, and for the
frustration of Basil's desire.

How that revenge was to be wrought, or, putting it the other way,
how Marcian was to be helped, she saw as yet only in glimpses of
ruthless purpose. Of Bessas she did not think as of a man easy to
subdue or to cajole; his soldierly rudeness, the common gossip of
his inconstancy in love, and his well-known avarice, were not things
likely to touch her imagination, nor had she ever desired to number
him in the circle of her admirers. That it might be in her power to
do what Marcian besought, she was very willing to persuade herself,
but the undertaking had such colour of danger that she wished for
more assurance of the truth of what she had heard.

'It seems to me,' she said at length, 'that the hour is of the
latest. What if Veranilda escape this very day?'

'Some days must of necessity pass,' answered Marcian. 'The plot is
not so far advanced.'

He rose hurriedly as if distracted by painful thoughts.

'Noble lady, forgive me for thus urging you with my foolish sorrows.
You see how nearly I am distraught. If by any means you could aid
me, were it only so far as to withhold her I love from the arms of
Basil--'

So deep was Heliodora sunk in her thoughts that she allowed Marcian
to leave her without another word. He, having carried his
machination thus far, could only await the issue, counting securely
on Heliodora's passions and her ruthlessness. He had but taken the
first step towards the end for which he schemed; were this
successful, with the result that Heliodora used her charms upon the
Greek commander, and, as might well happen, obtained power over him,
he could then proceed to the next stage of his plot, which had a
scope far beyond the loves of Basil and Veranilda. That the Gothic
maiden was really in the hands of Bessas he did not believe;
moreover, time had soothed his jealousy of Basil, and, had he been
able to further his friend's desire, he would now willingly have
done so; but he scrupled not to incur all manner of risks, for
himself and others, in pursuit of a great design. Marcian's
convulsive piety, like the religion of most men in his day, regarded
only the salvation of his soul from eternal torment, nor did he ever
dream that this would be imperilled by the treacheries in which his
life was now inured.

Only a few hours after his departure, Heliodora, by means familiar
to her, had learnt that Marcian's confidential servant was a man
named Sagaris, a conceited and talkative fellow, given to boasting
of his light loves. Before sunset, Sagaris had received a mysterious
message, bidding him repair that night to a certain place of public
resort upon the Quirinal. He did so, was met by the same messenger,
and bidden wait under a portico. Before long there approached
through the darkness a muffled figure, followed by two attendants
with lanterns; the Syrian heard his name whispered; a light touch
drew him further away from the lantern-bearing slaves, and a woman's
voice, low, caressing, began to utter endearments and reproaches.
Not to-night, it said, should he know who she was; she could speak a
name which would make his heart beat; but he should not hear it
until he had abandoned the unworthy woman whose arts had won him.
'What woman?' asked Sagaris in astonishment. And the answer was
whispered, 'Muscula.'

Now Muscula's name and position were well known to the Syrian. The
reproach of the mysterious fair one made him swell with pride; he
affected inability to deny the charge, and in the next breath
declared that Muscula was but his sport, that in truth he cared
nothing for her, he did but love her as he had loved women
numberless, not only in Rome, but in Alexandria, Antioch,
Constantinople. The muffled lady gave a deep sigh. Ah! and so it
would be with _her_, were she weak enough to yield to _her_ passion.
Sagaris began to protest, to vow.

'It is vain,' replied the amorous voice. 'Only in one way can you
convince me and win me.'

'Oh, how?'

'Let me hear that Muscula is dead.'

Sagaris stood mute. A hand touched his shoulder, his hair; perfumes
loaded the air about him.

'Tell me your name and it shall be done.'

The warm mouth breathed against his cheek and a name was murmured.

The second day after this saw an event in the Palatine which was
matter of talk for some two days more, and then passed into
oblivion. Rumour said that Muscula had been detected plotting
against the life of Bessas, that she had been. examined under
torture, found guilty, and executed. Certain gossips pretended that
there was no plot at all, but that Bessas, weary of his mistress,
had chosen this way of getting rid of her. Be that as it might,
Muscula was dead.





CHAPTER XVII

LEANDER THE POLITIC




For most of his knowledge of private things that happened on the
Palatine--and little that went on in the household of Bessas
escaped him--Marcian depended upon his servant Sagaris. Exorbitant
vanity and vagrant loves made the Syrian rather a dangerous agent;
but it was largely owing to these weaknesses that he proved so
serviceable. His master had hitherto found him faithful, and no one
could have worked more cunningly and persistently when set to play
the spy or worm for secrets. Notwithstanding all his efforts, this
man failed to discover whether Veranilda had indeed passed into the
guardianship of Bessas; good reason in Marcian's view for believing
that she was still detained by Leander, and probably in some
convent. But a rumour sprang up among those who still took interest
in the matter that some one writing from Sicily professed to have
seen the Gothic maiden on board a vessel which touched there on its
way to the East. This came to the ears of Marcian on the day after
his conversation with Heliodora. Whether it were true or not he
cared little, but he was disturbed by its having become subject of
talk at this moment, for Heliodora could not fail to hear the story.

The death of Muscula set him quivering with expectancy. That it
resulted from his plotting he could not be assured. Sagaris, who
wore a more than usually self-important air when speaking of the
event, had all manner of inconsistent reports on his tongue Not many
days passed before Marcian received a letter, worded like an
ordinary invitation, summoning him to the house on the Quirinal.

He went at the third hour of the morning, and was this time led
upstairs to a long and wide gallery, which at one side looked down
upon the garden in the rear of the house, and at the other offered a
view over a great part of Rome. Here was an aviary, constructed of
fine lattice work in wood, over-trailed with creeping plants, large
enough to allow of Heliodora's entering and walking about among the
multitude of birds imprisoned. At this amusement Marcian found her.
Upon her head perched a little songster; on her shoulder nestled a
dove; two fledglings in the palm of her hand opened their beaks for
food. Since her last visit a bird had died, and Heliodora's eyes
were still moist from the tears she had shed over it.

'You do not love birds,' she said, after gazing fixedly at Marcian a
moment through the trellis.

'I never thought,' was the reply, 'whether I loved them or not.'

'I had rather give my love to them than to any of mankind. They
repay it better.'

She came forth, carefully closed the wicket behind her, and began to
pace in the gallery as though she were alone. Presently she stood to
gaze over the city spread before her, and her eyes rested upon the
one vast building--so it seemed--which covered the Palatine
Hill.

'Marcian!'

He drew near. Without looking at him, her eyes still on the
distance, she said in an unimpassioned voice:

'Did you lie to me, or were you yourself deceived?'

'Lady, I know not of what you speak.'

'You know well.' Her dark eyes flashed a glance of rebuke, and
turned scornfully away again. 'But it matters nothing. I sent for
you to ask what more you have to say.'

Marcian affected surprise and embarrassment.

'It was my hope, gracious lady, that some good news awaited me on
your lips. What can I say more than you have already heard from me?'

'Be it so,' was the careless reply. 'I have nothing to tell you
except that Veranilda is not there.' She pointed towards the palace.
'And this I have no doubt you know.'

'Believe me, O Heliodora,' he exclaimed earnestly, 'I did not. I was
perhaps misled by--'

Her eyes checked him.

'By whom?'

'By one who seemed to speak with honesty and assurance.'

'Let us say, then, that you were misled; whether deceived or not,
concerns only yourself. And so, lord Marcian, having done what I can
for you, though it be little, I entreat your kind remembrance, and
God keep you.'

Her manner had changed to formal courtesy, and, with this dismissal,
she moved away again. Marcian stood watching her for a moment, then
turned to look at the wide prospect. A minute or two passed; he
heard Heliodora's step approaching.

'What keeps you here?' she asked coldly.

'Lady, I am thinking.'

'Of what?'

'Of the day soon to come when Totila will be king in Rome.'

Heliodora's countenance relaxed in a smile.

'Yet you had nothing more to say to me,' she murmured in a
significant tone.

'There were much to say, Heliodora, to one whom I knew my friend. I
had dared to think you so.'

'What proof of friendship does your Amiability ask?' inquired the
lady with a half-mocking, half-earnest look.

As if murmuring to himself, Marcian uttered the name 'Veranilda.'

'They say she is far on the way to Constantinople,' said Heliodora.
'If so, and if Bessas sent her, his craft is greater than I thought.
For I have spoken with him, and'--she smiled--'he seems sincere
when he denied all knowledge of the maiden.'

Marcian still gazed at the distance. Again he spoke as if
unconsciously murmuring his thoughts:

'Totila advances. In Campania but a few towns still await his
conquest. The Appian Way is open. Ere summer be past he will stand
at the gates of Rome.'

'Rome is not easily taken,' let fall the listener, also speaking as
though absently.

'It is more easily surrendered,' was the reply.

'What! You suspect Bessas of treachery?'

'We know him indolent and neglectful of duty. Does he not live here
at his ease, getting into his own hands, little by little, all the
wealth of the Romans, careless of what befall if only he may glut
his avarice? He will hold the city as long as may be, only because
the city is his possession. He is obstinate, bull-headed. Yet if one
were found who could persuade him that the cause of the Greeks is
hopeless--that, by holding out to the end, he will merely lose
all, whereas, if he came to terms--'

Marcian was watching Heliodora's face. He paused. Their eyes met for
an instant.

'Who can be assured,' asked Heliodora thoughtfully, 'that Totila
will triumph? They say the Patricius will come again.'

'Too late. Not even Belisarius can undo the work of Alexandros and
these devouring captains. From end to end of Italy, the name of the
Greeks is abhorred; that of Totila is held in honour. He will renew
the kingdom of Theodoric.'

Marcian saw straight before him the aim of all his intrigue. It was
an aim unselfish, patriotic. Though peril of the gravest lay in
every word he uttered, not this made him tremble, but the fear lest
he had miscalculated, counting too securely on his power to excite
this woman's imagination. For as yet her eye did not kindle. It
might be that she distrusted herself, having learnt already that
Bessas was no easy conquest. Or it might be that he himself was the
subject of her distrust.

'What is it to _you_?' she suddenly asked, with a fierce gaze. 'Can
the Goth bring Veranilda back to Italy?'

'I do not believe that she has gone.'

Marcian had knowledge enough of women, and of Heliodora, to harp on
a personal desire rather than hint at high motive. But he was
impelled by the turmoil of his fears and hopes to excite passions
larger than jealousy. Throwing off all restraint, he spoke with hot
eloquence of all that might be gained by one who could persuade the
Greek commander to open the gates of Rome. Totila was renowned for
his generosity, and desired above all things to reconcile, rather
than subdue, the Roman people; scarce any reward would seem to him
too great for service such as helped this end.

'Bessas lies before you. Ply your spells; make of him your creature;
then whisper in his ear such promise of infinite gold as will make
his liver melt. For _him_ the baser guerdon; for _you_, O Heliodora,
all the wishes of your noble heart, with power, power, power and
glory unspeakable!'

Heliodora pondered. Then, without raising her head, she asked
quietly:

'You speak for the King?'

'For the King,' was answered in like tone.

'Come to me again, Marcian, when I have had time for thought.'

With that they parted. On the same day, Sagaris was bidden as before
to a meeting after nightfall, and again he conversed with a lady
whose face was concealed from him. She began with a gentle reproof,
for he had ventured to present himself at her door, and to beg
audience. Let him be patient; his hour would come, but it must be
when she chose. Many questions did she put to him, all seeming to be
prompted by interest in the Gothic maiden of whom Sagaris had heard
so much. With the simplicity of inordinate conceit, he assured her
that here she had no ground for jealousy; Veranilda he had never
beheld. Softly she corrected his error; her interest in the maiden
was a friendly one. Only let him discover for her where Veranilda
was concealed. Sagaris was led to avow that in this very search he
and his master had been vainly occupied for many a day; it had
carried them, he declared in a whisper, even to the camp of King
Totila. With this the questioner appeared to be satisfied, and the
Syrian was soon dismissed, promises in a caressing voice his sole
reward.

When Marcian next held speech with Heliodora--it was after some
days--she bore herself more openly. In the course of their talk,
he learnt that she had consulted an astrologer, and with results
wholly favourable to his design. Not only had this man foretold to
her that Totila was destined to reign gloriously over the Italians
for many years, but he saw in Heliodora's own fate a mysterious link
with that of the triumphant king; her, under the Gothic conquest,
great things awaited. 'Do,' was his counsel, 'that which thou hast
in mind.' Hearing all this, Marcian's heart leaped with joy. He
urged her to pursue their end with all the speed that prudence
permitted. For his own part, he would make known to Totila as soon
as might be the hope of his friends in Rome.

Again some days passed, and Marcian received one of those messages
which at times reached him from the Gothic king. Totila's bidding
was contained in a few words: Let Marcian seek speech with the
deacon Leander. Surprised, but having full confidence in the
messenger, Marcian presently wrote to the deacon in brief terms,
saying that he wished to converse with him regarding a certain
heretic of whom he had hopes. To this came prompt reply, which did
not, however, invite Marcian, as he had expected, to a meeting in
private; but merely said that, on the morrow, an hour after sunrise,
Leander would be found in a certain public place.

Leander was busied just now in a matter peculiarly con. genial to
him, the destruction of an ancient building in order to enrich with
its columns and precious marbles a new Christian church. At the hour
appointed, Marcian found him in the temple of Minerva Chalcidica,
directing workmen as to what they should remove; before him lay
certain mouldings in green porphyry (the precious _lapis
Lacedaemonius_), which had been carefully broken from their places,
and he was regarding them with the eye of a lover. For the first few
minutes of their conversation, Marcian felt mistrust, as the deacon
appeared to have no intelligence of any secret purpose in this
meeting; but presently, still gossiping of stones, Leander led him
out of the temple and walked in the shadowy public place beside the
Pantheon.

'That must be purified and consecrated,' he remarked, glancing from
the granite columns of Agrippa's porch to the bronze-tiled dome.
'Too long it has been left to the demons.'

Marcian, preoccupied as he was, listened with awe. Since the ravage
of the Vandals, no mortal had passed those vast doors, behind which
all the gods of heathendom, known now for devils, lurked in retreat.

'I have urged it upon the Holy Father,' Leander added. 'But Vigilius
is all absorbed in the dogmatics of Byzantium. A frown of the
Empress Theodora is more to him than the glory of the Omnipotent and
the weal of Christendom.'

The look which accompanied these words was the first hint to Marcian
that he might speak in confidence. He inquired whether the Pope, as
was reported, would shortly sail for Constantinople.

'Before another week has passed,' was the reply, 'he will embark. He
would fain go forth'--a malicious smile was in the corner of
Leander's eye--'without leave-taking of his beloved people but
that can scarce be permitted.'

'Ere he return,' said Marcian, 'things of moment may happen.'

Again the deacon smiled. Seeing on the steps of the Pantheon a
couple of idlers playing at flash-finger, they turned aside to be
out of earshot.

'We are agreed, it seems,' remarked Leander quickly, 'that there is
hope of the heretic. You had news of him yesterday? I, also. It may
be in my power to render him some service--presently, presently.
Meanwhile, what can you tell me of the lost maiden about whom there
has been so much talk? Is it true that Bessas has sent her to the
East?'

Marcian turned his eyes upon the speaker's face, and regarded him
fixedly with a half smile. For a moment the deacon appeared to be
unconscious of this; then he met the familiar look, averted his head
again, and said in the same tone as before:

'The heretic, I learn, would gladly see her.'

'It would be as well, I think,' was the reply, 'if his wish were
gratified.'

'Ah? But how would that please a friend of yours, dear lord?' asked
Leander, with unaffected interest.

Marcian's answer was in a tone of entire sincerity, very unlike that
he had used when speaking on this subject with Heliodora.

'It might please him well or ill. The King'--he lowered his voice
a little--'would see with gladness this beautiful maiden of his
own people, sprung too from the royal blood, and would look with
favour upon those who delivered her in safety to him. Should he make
her his queen, and I believe she is worthy of that, the greater his
gratitude to those who prevented her marriage with a Roman. If, on
the other hand, he found that she could not forget her first lover,
Totila is large-hearted enough to yield her up in all honour, and
politic enough to see advantage in her union with the heir of the
Anician house. Between these things, Basil must take his chance. Had
he carried off his love, he would have wedded her in disregard of
every danger; and so long as it was only the Greeks that sought her,
I should have done my best to aid and to protect him. It is
different now. Basil I hold dearer than any friend; his place is in
my very heart, and his happiness is dearer to me than my own; but I
cannot help him to frustrate a desire of Totila. The King is noble;
to serve him is to promote the w_ of Italy, for which he fights, and
in which name he will conquer.'

The deacon had paused in his walk. He looked thoughtfully about him.
At this moment there came along the street an ox-drawn wagon, on
which lay the marble statue of a deity; Leander stepped up to it,
examined the marble, spoke with the men who were conveying it, and
returned to Marcian with a shake of the head.

'It pains me to see such carven beauty burnt to lime. And yet how
many thousands of her worshippers are now burning in Gehenna. Lord
Marcian,' he resumed, 'you have spoken earnestly and well, and have
given me good proof of your sincerity. I think with you, and
willingly would work with you.'

'Reverend, does no opportunity present itself?'

'In this moment, none that I can see,' was the suave answer.

'Yet I perceive that you have made some offer of service to the
King.'

'It is true; and perchance you shall hear more of it. Be not
impatient; great things are not hastily achieved.'

With sundry other such remarks, so uttered that their triteness
seemed to become the maturity of wisdom, Leander brought the
colloquy to an end. It was his principle to trust no man unless he
were assured of a motive strong enough to make him trustworthy, and
that motive he had not yet discovered in Marcian. Nor, indeed, was
he entirely sure of himself; for though he had gone so far as to
communicate with the Gothic king, it was only in view of
possibilities whose issue he still awaited. If the Pope set forth
for Constantinople, he would leave as representative in Rome the
deacon Pelagius, and from this brother cleric Leander had already
received certain glances, which were not to be misunderstood. The
moment might shortly come when he would need a friend more powerful
than any he had within the city.

But Vigilius lingered, and Leander, save in his influence with the
irresolute Pontiff, postponed the step he had in view.





CHAPTER XVIII

PELAGIUS




Rome waited. It had been thought that the fall of Neapolis would be
followed by Totila's swift march along the Appian Way; but three
months had passed, and the Gothic king was but little nearer to the
city. He seemed resolved to leave nothing behind him that had not
yielded to his arms; slowly and surely his rule was being
established over all the South. Through the heats of summer, with
pestilence still lurking in her palaces and her dens, no fountain
plashing where the sun blazed on Forum and on street, Rome waited.

In June Bessas was joined by another of the Greek commanders,
Joannes, famed for his ferocity, and nicknamed the Devourer. A show
of activity in the garrison resulted from this arrival; soldiers
were set to work upon parts of the city wall which needed
strengthening; the Romans began to make ready for a siege; and some,
remembering the horrors of a few years ago, took to flight. There
was much talk of a conspiracy to open the gates to Totila; one or
two senators were imprisoned, and a few Arian priests who still
dwelt in Rome were sentenced to banishment. But when, after a few
weeks, Joannes and his troop marched northward, commotion ceased;
Bessas fell back into the life of indolent rapacity, work on the
walls was soon neglected, and Rome found that she had still only to
wait.

About this time Marcian fell sick. He had suffered much from
disappointment of high hopes, neither Heliodora nor Leander aiding
his schemes as he expected. The constant danger in which he lived
tried his fortitude to the utmost, and at length he began to burn
with fever. Agonies came upon him, for even the slightest disorder
in these plague-stricken times filled men with fear. And whilst he
lay thus wretched, his servants scarce daring to attend upon him--
Sagaris refused to enter his chamber, and held himself ready for
flight (with all he could lay hands on) as soon as the physician
should have uttered the fatal word--whilst his brain was confused
and his soul shaken with even worse than the wonted terrors, there
came to visit him the deacon Pelagius. That the visit happened at
this moment was mere chance, but Pelagius, hearing of Marcian's
condition, felt that he could not have come more opportunely. A
courageous man, strong in body as in mind, he was not to be alarmed
by mere talk of the pest; bidding the porter conduct him, he came to
Marcian's bedside, and there sat for half an hour. When he went
away, his handsome countenance wore a smile of thoughtful
satisfaction.

As though this conversation had relieved him, the sick man at once
began to mend. But with his recovery came another torment. Lying in
fear of death and hell, he had opened his soul to Pelagius, and had
revealed secrets upon which depended all he cared for in this world.
Not only he himself was ruined, but the lives of those he had
betrayed were in jeopardy. That suspicion was busy with him he knew;
the keen-sighted deacon had once already held long talk with him,
whereupon followed troublesome interrogation by Bessas, who had
since regarded him with somewhat a sullen eye. How would Pelagius
use the knowledge he had gained? Even when quite recovered from the
fever, Marcian did not venture to go forth, lest an enemy should be
waiting for him without. In his weak, dejected and humbled state he
thought of the peace of a monastery, and passed most of his time in
prayer.

But when a few days had passed without event, and increasing
strength enabled him to think less brain-sickly, he began to ask
whether he himself had not peradventure been betrayed It was a long
time since he had seen Heliodora, who appeared to be making no
effort for the conquest of the Greek commander; had she merely
failed, and lost courage, or did the change in her mean treachery?
To trust Heliodora was to take a fool's risk; even a little wound to
her vanity might suffice to turn her against him. At their last
meeting she had sat with furrowed brows, brooding as if over some
wrong, and when he urged her for an explanation of her mood, she was
first petulant, then fiery, so that he took umbrage and left her.
Happily she knew none of his graver secrets, much though she had
tried to discover them. Were she traitorous, she could betray him
alone.

But he, in the wreck of his manhood, had uttered many names besides
hers--that of Basil, from whom he had recently heard news, that of
the politic Leander, those of several nobles engaged in the Gothic
cause. Scarcely could he believe that he had been guilty of such
baseness; he would fain have persuaded himself that it was but a
memory of delirium. He cursed the subtlety of Pelagius, which had
led him on till everything was uttered. Pelagius, the bosom friend
of Justinian, would know how to deal with plotters against the
Empire. Why had he not already struck? What cunning held his hand?

Unable at length to sit in idleness, he tried to ease his conscience
by sending a warning to Basil, using for this purpose the
trustworthy slave who, in many disguises, was wont to travel with
his secret messages. This man wore false hair so well fixed upon his
head that it could not attract attention; the letter he had to
deliver was laid beneath an artificial scalp.

'Be on your guard,' thus Marcian wrote. 'Some one has made known to
the Greeks that you are arming men, and for what purpose. Delay no
longer than you must in joining the King. In him is your only hope,
if hope there still can be. I, too, shall soon be in the camp.'

These last words were for his friend's encouragement. As soon as the
letter had been despatched, he went forth about Rome in his usual
way, spoke with many persons, and returned home unscathed. Plainly,
then, he was to be left at liberty yet awhile; Pelagius had purposes
to serve. Next day, he betook himself to the Palatine; Bessas
received him with bluff friendliness, joked about his escape from
death (for every one believed that he had had the plague), and
showed no sign of the mistrust which had marked their last meeting.
In gossip with certain Romans who were wont to hang about the
commander, flattering and fawning upon him for their base advantage,
he learnt that no one had yet succeeded to the place left vacant by
the hapless Muscula; only in casual amours, generally of the
ignoblest, did Bessas bestow his affections. Of Heliodora there was
no talk.

Another day he passed in sauntering; nothing that he could perceive
in those with whom he talked gave hint of menace to his safety.
Then, early the next morning, he turned his steps to the Quirinal.
As usual, he was straightway admitted to Heliodora's house, but had
to wait awhile until the lady could receive him. Gloomily
thoughtful, standing with eyes fixed upon those of the great bust of
Berenice, he was startled by a sudden cry from within the house, the
hoarse yell of a man in agony; it was repeated, and became a long
shriek, rising and falling in terrible undulation. He had stepped
forward to seek an explanation, when Heliodora's eunuch smilingly
came to meet him.

'What is that?' asked Marcian, his nerves a-quiver.

'The noble lady has ordered a slave to be punished,' was the
cheerful reply.

'What is his fault?'

'Illustrious, I know not,' answered the eunuch more gravely.

The fearful sounds still continuing, Marcian turned as though to
hurry away; but the eunuch, following, implored him not to go, for
his departure would but increase Heliodora's wrath. So for a few
more minutes he endured the horror of that unbroken yell. When it
ceased, he could hear his heart beating.

Summoned at length to the lady's presence, he found her lying in the
chamber of the Hermaphrodite. A strange odour floated in the air,
overcoming that of wonted perfumes.

Faint with a sudden nausea, Marcian performed no courtesy, but stood
regarding the living woman much as he had gazed at the face in
marble, absent and sombre-browed.

'What now?' were Heliodora's first words, her smile fading in
displeasure.

'Must we needs converse in your torture-chamber?' asked Marcian.

'Are your senses more delicate than mine?'

'It seems so. I could wish I had chosen another hour for visiting
you.'

'It was well chosen,' said Heliodora, regarding him fixedly. 'This
slave I have chastised, shall I tell you of what he was guilty? He
has a blabbing tongue.'

'I see not how that concerns me,' was his cold reply, as he met her
look with steady indifference.

From her lounging attitude Heliodora changed suddenly to one in
which, whilst seated, she bent forward as though about to spring at
him.

'How comes it that Bessas knows every word that has passed between
us?' broke fiercely from her lips.

In an instant Marcian commanded himself, shrugged his shoulders, and
laughed.

'That is a question,' he said, 'to put to your astrologer, your
oneirocritic, your genethliac. I profess not to read mysteries.'

'Liar!' she shot out. 'How could he have had it but from your own
lips?'

Marcian betook himself to his utmost dissimulation, and the talk of
the next few minutes--on his part, deliberately provocative; on
hers, recklessly vehement--instructed him in much that he had
desired to learn. It was made clear to him that a long combat of
wills and desires had been in progress between the crafty courtesan
and the half wily and the half brutal soldier, with a baffling of
Heliodora's devices which would never have come to his knowledge but
for this outbreak of rage. How far the woman had gone in her lures,
whether she had played her last stake, he could not even now
determine; but he suspected that only such supreme defeat could
account for the fury in which he beheld her. Bessas, having (as was
evident) heard the secret from Pelagius, might perchance have played
the part of a lover vanquished by his passions, and then, after
winning his end by pretence of treachery to the Emperor, had broken
into scoffing revelation. That were a triumph after the Thracian's
heart. Having read thus far in the past, Marcian had to turn anxious
thought upon the future, for his position of seeming security could
not long continue. He bent himself to allay the wrath he had
excited. Falling of a sudden into a show of profound distress, he
kept silence for a little, then murmured bitterly:

'I see what has happened. When the fever was upon me, my mind
wandered, and I talked.'

So convincing was the face, the tone, so plausible the explanation,
that Heliodora drew slowly back, her fury all but quenched. She
questioned him as to the likely betrayer, and the name of Sagaris
having been mentioned, used the opportunity to learn what she could
concerning the man.

'I cannot promise to give him up to you to be tortured,' said
Marcian, with his characteristic smile of irony.

'That I do not ask. But,' she added significantly, 'will you send
him here, and let me use gentler ways of discovering what I can?'

'That, willingly.'

And when Marcian went away, he reflected that all was not yet lost.
For Heliodora still had faith in the prophecy of her astrologer; she
was more resolute than ever in her resolve to triumph over Bessas;
she could gain nothing to this end by helping her confederate's
ruin. Before parting, they had agreed that Marcian would do well to
affect ignorance of the discovery Bessas had made; time and events
must instruct them as to the projects of their enemies, and guide
their own course.

That same day, he despatched the Syrian with a letter to Heliodora,
and on the man's return spoke with him as if carelessly of his
commission. He remarked that the face of Sagaris shone as though
exultantly, but no indiscreet word dropped from the vaunter's lips.
A useful fellow, murmured Marcian within himself, and smiled
contempt.

Another day or two of indecision, then in obedience to an impulse he
could no longer resist, he sought speech with the deacon Pelagius.
Not without trouble was this obtained, for Pelagius was at all times
busy, always beset by suitors of every degree, the Romans holding
him in high reverence, and making their appeals to him rather than
to the Pope, for whom few had a good word. When at last Marcian was
admitted to the deacon's presence, he found himself disconcerted by
the long, silent scrutiny of eyes deep read in the souls of men. No
word would reach his lips.

'I have been expecting you,' said the deacon at length, gravely, but
without severity. 'You have made no haste to come.'

'Most reverend,' replied Marcian, in a tone of the deepest reproach,
'I knew not certainly whether I had indeed made confession to you,
or if it was but a dream of fever.'

Pelagius smiled. He was standing by a table, and his hand lay upon
an open volume.

'You are of noble blood, lord Marcian,' he continued, 'and the
greatness of your ancestors is not unknown to you. Tell me by what
motive you have been induced to play the traitor against Rome. I
cannot think it was for the gain that perishes. Rather would I
suppose you misled by the opinion of Cassiodorus, whose politics
were as unsound as his theology. I read here, in his treatise _De
Anima_, that there is neither bliss nor torment for the soul before
the great Day of Judgment--a flagrant heresy, in utter
contradiction of the Scriptures, and long ago refuted by the holy
Augustine. Can you trust in worldly matters one who is so blinded to
the clearest truths of eternity?'

'I confess,' murmured the listener, 'that I thought him justified in
his support of the Gothic kingdom.'

'You are content, then, you whose ancestors have sat in the Senate,
to be ruled by barbarians? You, a Catholic, revolt not against the
dominions of Arians? And so little is your foresight, your
speculation, that you dream of permanent conquest of Italy by this
leader of a barbaric horde? I tell you, lord Marcian, that ere
another twelvemonth has passed, the Goths will be defeated,
scattered, lost. The Emperor is preparing a great army, and before
the end of summer Belisarius will again land on our shores. Think
you Totila can stand against him? Be warned; consider with yourself.
Because your confession had indeed something of sickness in it, I
have forborne to use it against you as another might have done. But
not with impunity can you resume your traitorous practices; of that
be assured.'

He paused, looking sternly into Marcian's face.

'I have no leisure to debate with you, to confute your errors. One
thing only will I add, before dismissing you to ponder what I have
uttered. It is in your power to prove your return to reason and the
dignity of a Roman; I need not say how; the occasion will surely ere
long present itself, and leave you in no doubt as to my meaning.
Remember, then, how I have dealt with you; remember, also, that no
such indulgence will be granted to a renewal of your crime against
Rome, your sin against God.'

Marcian dropped to his knees; there was a moment of silence; then he
arose and went forth.

A week passed, and there came the festival of St. Laurentius. All
Rome streamed out to the basilica beyond the Tiburtine Gate, and
among those who prayed most fervently at the shrine was Marcian. He
besought guidance in an anguish of doubt. Not long ago, in the early
days of summer, carnal temptation had once more overcome him, and
the sufferings, the perils, of this last month he attributed to that
lapse from purity. His illness was perhaps caused by excess of
rigour in penitence. To-day he prayed with many tears that the Roman
martyr would enlighten him, and make him understand his duty to
Rome.

As he was leaving the church, a hand touched him; he turned, and
beheld the deacon Leander, who led him apart.

'It is well that I have met you,' said the cleric, with less than
his usual bland deliberation. 'A messenger is at your house to bid
you come to me this evening. Can you leave Rome to-morrow?'

'On what mission?'

Leander pursed his lips for a moment, rolled his eyes hither and
thither, and said with a cautious smile:

'That for which you have been waiting.'

With difficulty Marcian dissembled his agitation. Was this the
saint's reply to his prayer? Or was it a temptation of the Evil
Power, which it behoved him to resist?

'I am ready,' he said, off-hand.

'You will be alone for the first day's journey, and in the evening
you will be met by such attendants as safety demands. Do you
willingly undertake the charge? Or is there some new danger which
you had not foreseen?'

'There is none,' replied Marcian, 'and I undertake the charge right
willingly.'

'Come to me, then, at sunset. The travel is planned in every detail,
and the letters ready. What follower goes with you?'

'The same as always--Sagaris.'

'Confide nothing to him until you are far from Rome. Better if you
need not even then.'

Leander broke off the conference, and walked away at a step quicker
than his wont. But Marcian, after lingering awhile in troubled
thought, returned to the martyr's grave. Long he remained upon his
knees, the conflict within him so violent that he could scarce find
coherent words of prayer. Meanwhile the August sky had clouded, and
thunder was beginning to roll. As he went forth again, a flash of
lightning dazzled him. He saw that it was on the left hand, and took
courage to follow the purpose that had shaped in his thoughts.

That evening, after an hour's close colloquy with Leander, he betook
himself by circuitous way to the dwelling of Pelagius, and with him
again held long talk. Then went home, through the dark, still
streets, to such slumber as his conscience might permit.





CHAPTER XIX

THE PRISONER OF PRAENESTE




On the morrow of St. Laurentius, at that point of dawn when a man
can recognise the face of one who passes, there issued from the
Lateran a silent company equipped for travel. In a covered carriage
drawn by two horses sat the Pope, beside him a churchman of his
household; a second carriage conveyed the deacon Leander and another
ecclesiastic; servants and a baggage vehicle brought up the rear.
With what speed it could over the ill-paved roads, this procession
made for the bank of the Tiber below the Aventine, where, hard by
the empty public granaries, a ship lay ready to drop down stream. It
was a flight rather than a departure. Having at length made up his
mind to obey the Emperor's summons, Vigilius endeavoured to steal
away whilst the Romans slept off their day of festival. But he was
not suffered to escape thus. Before he had reached the place of
embarkation, folk began to run shouting behind his carriage. Ere he
could set foot on board the vessel a crowd had gathered. The
farewell of the people to their supreme Pontiff was given in a
volley of stones and potsherds, whilst the air rang with
maledictions.

Notwithstanding his secret hostility, Leander had of late crept into
Vigilius' confidence, thus protecting himself against his formidable
adversary Pelagius. He was now the Pope's travelling companion as
far as Sicily. Had he remained in Rome, the authority of Pelagius
would have fallen heavily upon him, and he could scarce have escaped
the humiliation of yielding his Gothic captive to Justinian's
friend. Apprised only a day before of Vigilius' purpose, he had
barely time to plot with Marcian for the conveyance of Veranilda to
Totila's camp. This had long been his intention, for, convinced that
Totila would rule over Italy, he saw in the favour of the king not
only a personal advantage, but the hope of the Western Church in its
struggle with Byzantium. Driven at length to act hurriedly, he
persuaded himself that he could use no better agent than Marcian,
who had so deeply pledged himself to the Gothic cause. Of what had
passed between Marcian and Pelagius he of course knew nothing. So,
as the ship moved seaward upon tawny Tiber, and day flamed upon the
Alban hills, Leander laughed within himself. He enjoyed a plot for
its own sake, and a plot, long savoured, which gave him triumph over
ecclesiastical rivals, and even over the Emperor Justinian, was well
worth the little risk that might ensue When he returned to Rome, it
would doubtless be with the victorious Goth--safe, jubilant, and
ere long to be seated in the chair of the Apostle.

At the same hour Marcian was riding along the Praenestine Way, the
glory of summer sunrise straight before him. The thought most active
in his mind had nothing to do with the contest of nations or with
the fate of Rome: it was that on the morrow he should behold
Veranilda. For a long time he had ceased to think of her; her name
came to his lips in connection with artifice and intrigue, but the
maiden herself had faded into nothingness, no longer touched his
imagination. He wondered at that fantastic jealousy of Basil from
which he had suffered. This morning, the caress of the warm air, the
scents wafted about him as he rode over the great brown wilderness,
revived his bygone mood. Again he mused on that ideal loveliness
which he attributed to the unseen Veranilda For nearly a year she
had been sought in vain by her lover, by Greek commanders, by
powerful churchmen; she had been made the pretext of far-reaching
plots and conspiracies; her name had excited passions vehement and
perilous, had been the cause of death. Now he was at length to look
upon her; nay, she was to pass into his guardianship, and be by him
delivered into the hands of the warrior king. Dreaming, dreaming, he
rode along the Praenestine Way.

Though the personal dignity of Pelagius and the calm force of his
speech had awed and perturbed him, Marcian soon recovered his
habitual mind. He had thought and felt too deeply regarding public
affairs to be so easily converted from the cause for which he lived.
A new treachery was imposed upon him. When, after receiving all his
instructions from Leander, he went to see Pelagius, it was in order
to secure his own safety and the fulfilment of his secret mission by
a seeming betrayal of him he served. He knew that his every movement
was watched; he could not hope to leave Rome without being stopped
and interrogated. If he desired to carry out Leander's project--
and he desired it the more ardently the longer he reflected--his
only course was this. Why did it agitate him more than his treachery
hitherto? Why did he shake and perspire when he left Pelagius, after
promising to bring Veranilda to Rome? He knew not himself--unless
it were due to a fear that he might perform his promise.

This fear it was, perhaps, which had filled his short sleep with
dreams now terrible, now luxurious. This fear it was which caught
hold of him, at length distinct and intelligible, when, on turning
his head towards the city soon after sunrise, he became aware of a
group of horsemen following him at a distance of half a mile or so.
Thus had it been agreed with Pelagius. The men were to follow him,
without approaching, to a certain point of his journey, then would
close about him and his attendants, who would be inferior in number,
and carry them, with the Gothic maiden, back to Rome. At the sight
Marcian drew rein, and for a moment sat in his saddle with bent
head, suffering strangely. Sagaris came up to his side, regarded him
with anxious eye, and asked whether the heat of the sun's rays
incommoded him; whereupon he made a negative sign and rode on.

He tried to laugh. Had he forgotten the subtlety of his plot for
deceiving Pelagius? To have made known to the deacon where Veranilda
really was, would have been a grave fault in strategy. These armed
horsemen imagined that a two days' journey lay before them, whereas
the place of Veranildas imprisonment would be reached this evening.
The artifice he had elaborated was, to be sure, full of hazard;
accident might disconcert everything; the instruments upon whom he
reckoned might fail him. But not because of this possibility was his
heart so miserably perturbed. It was himself that he dreaded--the
failure of his own purpose, the treachery of his own will.

On he rode in the full eye of the August sun. The vast, undulant
plain spread around him; its farms, villas, aqueducts no less
eloquent of death than the tombs by the wayside its still air and
the cloudless azure above speaking to a man's soul as with the voice
of eternity. Marcian was very sensible of such solemn influence.
More than once, in traversing this region, he had been moved to bow
his head in devotion purer than that which commonly inspired his
prayers, but to-day he knew not a moment's calm. All within him was
turbid, subject to evil thoughts.

A little before noon he made his first halt. Amid the ruins of a
spacious villa two or three peasant families had their miserable
home, with a vineyard, a patch of tilled soil, and a flock of goats
for their sustenance. Here the travellers, sheltered from the fierce
sun, ate of the provisions they carried, and lay resting for a
couple of hours. Marcian did not speak with the peasants, but he
heard the voice of a woman loud in lamentation, and Sagaris told him
that it was for the death of a child, who, straying yesterday at
nightfall, had been killed by a wolf. Many hours had the mother wept
and wailed, only interrupting her grief to vilify and curse the
saint to whose protection her little one was confided.

When he resumed his journey, Marcian kept glancing back until he
again caught sight of the company of horsemen; they continued to
follow him at the same distance. On he rode, the Alban hills at his
right hand, and before him, on its mountain side, the town for which
he made. The sun was yet far from setting when he reached Praeneste.
Its great walls and citadel towering on the height above told of
ancient strength, and many a noble building, within the city and
without, monuments of glory and luxury, resisted doom. Sulla's
Temple of Fortune still looked down upon its columned terraces, but
behind the portico was a Christian church, and where once abode the
priests of the heathen sanctuary, the Bishop of Praeneste had now
his dwelling. Thither did Marcian straightway betake himself. The
bishop, a friend and ally of Leander, received him with cordiality,
and eagerly read the letter he brought. Asked whether Vigilius had
left Rome, Marcian was able to tell something of the Pope's
departure, having heard the story just before his own setting forth;
whereat the prelate, a man of jovial aspect, laughed unrestrainedly.

'To supper! to supper!' he exclaimed with hospitable note. 'Time
enough for our business afterwards.'

But Marcian could not postpone what he had to say. Begging the
bishop's patience, he told how all day long he had been followed by
certain horsemen from Rome, who assuredly were sent to track him.
His servant, he added, was watching for their entrance into the
town, and would observe where they lodged. This, the bishop
admitted, was a matter of some gravity.

'Your guard is ready,' he said. 'Six stout fellows on good horses.
But these pursuers outman you. Let me think, let me think.'

Marcian had but to suggest his scheme. This was, to resume his
journey as soon as the townsfolk were all asleep, and travel through
the night, for there was a moon all but at the full. He might thus
gain so much advance of his pursuers that they would not be able to
overtake him before he came to the nearest outpost of the Gothic
army. After reflection, the bishop gave his approval to this
project, and undertook that all should be ready at the fitting hour.
He himself would accompany them to the gate of the town, and see
them safely on their way. To make surer, Marcian used another
device. When he had learned the quarters of the pursuing horsemen he
sent Sagaris privily to speak with their leader, warning him to be
ready to ride at daybreak. Such a message had of course nothing
unexpected for its recipient, who looked upon Marcian as secretly
serving Pelagius. It put his mind at ease and released him from the
necessity of keeping a night watch. Sagaris, totally ignorant of his
master's mission, and of the plans that had just been formed,
imagined himself an intermediary in some plot between Marcian and
the leader of the horsemen, and performed the deceitful office in
all good faith.

The bishop and his guest sat down to supper in an ancient room, of
which the floor was a mosaic representing an Egyptian landscape,
with a multitude of figures. Marcian would gladly have asked
questions about Veranilda; how long she had been at Praeneste,
whether the lady Aurelia was in the same convent, and many other
things; but he did not venture to make known how little he had
enjoyed of Leander's confidence. His reverend host spoke not at all
on this subject, which evidently had no interest for him, but
abounded in inquiries as to the state of things ecclesiastical at
Rome. The supper was excellent; it pained the good prelate that his
guest seemed to have so poor an appetite. He vaunted the quality of
everything on the table, and was especially enthusiastic about a
wine of the south, very aromatic, which had come to him as a present
from his friend the Bishop of Rhegium, together with a certain
cheese of Sila, exquisite in thymy savour, whereof he ate with
prodigious gusto.

It was about the third hour of the night when Sagaris, to his
astonishment, was aroused from a first sleep, and bidden prepare at
once for travel. Following his master and the bishop, who were not
otherwise attended, he passed through a garden to a postern, where,
by dim lantern light, he saw, in the street without, a small covered
carriage drawn by four mules, and behind it several men on
horseback; his master's horse and his own were also in readiness at
the door. He mounted, the carriage moved forward; and by a steep
descent which needed extreme caution, the gate of the city was soon
reached. Here the bishop, who had walked beside Marcian, spoke a
word with two drowsy watchmen sitting by the open gateway, bade his
guest an affectionate farewell, and stood watching for a few minutes
whilst vehicle and riders moved away in the moonlight.

Finding himself well sped from Praeneste, where his pursuers lay
sound asleep, Marcian felt an extravagant joy; he could scarce
command himself to speak a few necessary words, in an ordinary tone,
to the leader of the guard with which he was provided; to shout, to
sing, would have better suited his mood. Why he thrilled with such
exultancy he could not have truly said; but a weight seemed to be
lifted from his mind, and he told himself that the relief was due to
knowing that he had done with treachery, done with double-dealing,
done with the shame and the peril of such a life as he had led for
years. Never could he return to Rome save with the Gothic King; in
beguiling Pelagius, he had thrown in his lot irrevocably with the
enemies of the Greeks. Now he would play the part of an honest man;
his heart throbbed at the thought.

But all this time his eyes were fixed upon the closed vehicle,
behind which he rode; and was it indeed the thought of having gained
freedom which made his heart so strangely beat? He pushed his horse
as near as possible to the carriage; he rode beside it; he stretched
out his hand and touched it. As soon as the nature of the road
permitted, he gave an order to make better speed, and his horse
began to trot; he thought less of the danger from which he was
fleeing than of the place of rest where Veranilda would step down
from the carriage, and he would look upon her face.

Under the great white moon, the valley into which they were
descending lay revealed in every feature, and the road itself was as
well illumined as by daylight. On they sped, as fast as the mules
could be driven. Near or far sounded from time to time the howl of a
wolf, answered by the fierce bark of dogs in some farm or village;
the hooting of owls broke upon the stillness, or the pipe of toads
from a marshy hollow. By the wayside would be seen moving stealthily
a dark form, which the travellers knew to be a bear, but they met no
human being, nor anywhere saw the gleam of a light in human
habitation. Coming within view of some temple of the old religion,
all crossed themselves and murmured a prayer, for this was the hour
when the dethroned demons had power over the bodies and the souls of
men.

After a long descent they struck into the Via Latina, still in spite
of long neglect almost as good a road as when the legions marched
over its wheel-furrowed stones. If the information on which Leander
had calculated was correct, some three days' journey by this way
would bring them within reach of the Gothic king; but Marcian was
now debating with himself at what point he should quit the high
road, so as to make certain his escape, in case the Greek horsemen
began a chase early on the morrow. To the left lay a mountainous
region, with byways and little ancient towns, in old time the
country of the Hernici; beyond, a journey of two good days, flowed
the river Liris, and there, not far from the town of Arpinum, was
Marcian's ancestral villa. Of this he thought, as his horse trotted
beside or behind the carriage. It was much out of his way; surely
there would be no need to go so far in order to baffle pursuers. Yet
still he thought of his villa, islanded in the Liris, and seemed to
hear through the night the music of tumbling waters, and said within
his heart, 'Could I not there lie safe?'

Safe?--from the Greeks, that is to say, if they persistently
searched for him. Safe, until a messenger could reach Totila, and
let him know that Veranilda was rescued.

An hour after midnight, one of the mules' traces broke. In the
silence of the stoppage, whilst the driver was mending the harness
as best he could, Marcian alighted, stepped to the side of the
vehicle, laid a hand on the curtain which concealed those within,
and spoke in a subdued voice.

'Is all well with you, lady?'

'As well,' came the answer, 'as it can be with one who dreads her
unknown fate.'

The soft accents made Marcian tremble. He expected to hear a sweet
voice, but this was sweeter far than he could have imagined: its
gentleness, its sadness, utterly overcame him, so that he all but
wept in his anguish of delight.

'Have no fear,' he whispered eagerly. 'It is freedom that awaits
you. I am Marcian--Marcian, the friend of Basil.'

There sounded a low cry of joy; then the two names were repeated,
his and that of his friend, and again Marcian quivered.

'You will be no more afraid?' he said, as though laughingly.

'Oh no! The Blessed Virgin be thanked!'

An owl's long hoot wailed through the stillness, seeming to fill
with its infinite melancholy the great vault of moonlit heaven. In
Marcian it produced a sudden, unaccountable fear. Leaping on to his
horse, he cursed the driver for slowness. Another minute, and they
were speeding onward.

Marcian watched anxiously the course of the silver orb above them.
When it began to descend seaward, the animals were showing signs of
weariness; before daybreak he must perforce call a halt. In
conversation with the leader of his guard, he told the reason of
their hasting on by night (known already to the horseman, a trusted
follower of the Bishop of Praeneste), and at length announced his
resolve to turn off the Latin Way into the mountains, with the view
of gaining the little town Aletrium, whence, he explained, they
could cross the hills to the valley of the Liris, and so descend
again to the main road. It was the man's business to obey; he let
fall a few words, however, concerning the dangers of the track; it
was well known that bands of marauders frequented this country,
moving onward before the slow advance of the Gothic troops. Marcian
reflected, but none the less held to his scheme. The beasts were
urged along an upward way, which, just about the setting of the
moon, brought them to a poor village with a little church. Marcian
set himself to discover the priest, and, when this good man was
roused from slumber, spoke in his ear a word which had great effect.
With little delay stabling was found, and a place of repose for
Marcian's followers; he himself would rest under the priest's roof,
whither he conducted Veranilda and a woman servant who sat with her
in the carriage. The face which was so troubling his imagination he
did not yet see, for Veranilda kept the hood close about her as she
passed by candle light up steps to the comfortless and dirty little
chamber which was the best she could have.

'Rest in peace,' whispered Marcian as the door closed. 'I guard
you.'

For an hour or more he sat talking with his host over a pitcher of
wine, found how far he was from Aletrium, and heard with
satisfaction that the brigand bands seemed to have gone higher into
the mountains. The presbyter asked eagerly for Roman news, and
cautiously concerning King Totila, whom it was evident he regarded
with no very hostile feeling. As the day broke he stretched himself
on his host's bed, there being no other for him, and there dozed for
two or three hours, far too agitated to enjoy a sound sleep.

When he arose, he went forth into the already hot sunshine, looked
at the poor peasants' cottages, and talked with Sagaris, whose
half-smiling face seemed anxious to declare that he knew perfectly
well on what business they were engaged. At this hour, in all
probability, the horsemen of Pelagius were galloping along the Latin
Way, in hope of overtaking the fugitives. It seemed little likely
that they would search in this direction, and the chances were that
they would turn back when their horses got tired out. Of them,
indeed, Marcian thought but carelessly; his hard-set brows betokened
another subject of disquiet. Should he, after Aletrium, go down
again to the Latin Way, or should he push a few miles further to the
valley of the Liris, and to his own villa?

To-day, being the first day of the week, there was a gathering to
hear mass. Marcian, though he had that in his mind which little
accorded with religious worship, felt himself drawn to the little
church, and knelt among the toil-worn folk. Here, as always when he
heard the liturgy, his heart melted, his soul was overcome with awe.
From earliest childhood he had cherished a peculiar love and
reverence for the Eucharistic prayer, which was associated with his
noblest feelings, his purest aspirations. As he heard it now, here
amid the solitude of the hills, it brought him help such as he
needed.

'Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et
ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne
Deus.'

When at the end he rose, these words were still resonant within him.
He turned to go forth, and there behind, also just risen from her
knees, stood a veiled woman, at the sight of whom he thrilled with
astonishment. No peasant she; for her attire, though but little
adorned, told of refinement, and the grace of her figure, the simple
dignity of her attitude, would alone have marked her out among the
girls and women who were leaving the church, their eyes all turned
upon her and on the female attendant standing respectfully near.
Through the veil which covered her face and hung about her
shoulders, Marcian could dimly discern lips and eyebrows.

'Lord Marcian, may I speak with you?'

It was the voice of last night, and again it shook him with an
ecstasy which had more of dread than of joy.

'You here?' he replied, speaking very low. 'You have heard the
mass?'

'I am a Catholic. My religion is that of Basil.'

'God be thanked!' broke from Marcian. And his exclamation meant more
than it conveyed to the listener.

'May you tell me whither we are going?' was the next question from
the veiled lips.

The church was now empty, but in the doorway appeared faces
curiously peering. Marcian looking in that direction seemed for a
moment to find no reply; his lips were parted, and his breath came
rapidly; then he whispered:

'Not far from here there is a villa. There you shall rest in safety
until Basil comes.'

'He is near?'

'Already I have summoned him.'

'O kind Marcian!' uttered the low, sweet voice. 'Oh, true and brave
friend!'

In silence they walked together to the priest's house. Marcian had
now put off all irresolution. He gave orders to his guard; as soon
as the horses had sufficiently rested, they would push on for
Aletrium, and there pass the night. The start was made some two
hours after noon. Riding once more beside the carriage, Marcian felt
his heart light: passions and fears were all forgotten; the sun
flaming amid the pale blue sky, the violet shadows of the mountains,
the voice of cicadas made rapture to his senses. It was as though
Veranilda's beauty, not even yet beheld, rayed something of itself
upon all the visible world. Never had a summer's day shone so
gloriously for him; never had he so marked the hues of height and
hollow, the shape of hills, the winding of a stream. Where an ascent
made the pace slow, he alighted, walked by the vehicle, and
exchanged a few words with her who sat behind the curtain.

At length Aletrium came in view, a little town in a strong position
on the mountain side, its walls and citadel built in old time, long
unused for defence, but resisting ages with their cyclopean force.
On arriving, they found a scene of disorder, misery and fear. This
morning the place had been attacked by a brigand horde, which had
ravaged at will: the church was robbed of its sacred vessels, the
beasts of burden were driven away, and, worst of all, wives and
daughters of the defenceless townsmen had suffered outrage. Marcian,
with that air of authority which he well knew how to assume,
commanded the attendance of the leading citizens and spoke with them
in private. Finding them eager for the arrival of the Goths, to whom
they looked rather than to the distant Greeks for protection against
ruinous disorder (already they had despatched messengers to Totila
entreating his aid), he made known to them that he was travelling to
meet the Gothic outposts, and promised to hasten the king's advance.
At present, there seemed to be no more danger, the marauders having
gone on into the Apennines; so Marcian obtained lodging for
Veranilda and for himself in the priest's house. Only when he was
alone did he reflect upon the narrowness of his escape from those
fierce plunderers, and horror shook him. There remained but half a
day's journey to his villa. He was so impatient to arrive there, and
to dismiss the horsemen, that though utterly wearied, he lay awake
through many hours of darkness, hearing the footsteps of men who
patrolled the streets, and listening with anxious ear for any sound
of warning.

He rose in the twilight, and again held conference with those of the
townsmen who were stoutest in the Gothic cause. To them he announced
that he should travel this day as far as Arpinum (whither he was
conducting a lady who desired to enter a convent hard by that city),
and thence should proceed in search of Totila, for whom, he assured
his hearers, he carried letters of summons from the leading
churchmen at Rome. This news greatly cheered the unhappy Aletrians,
who had been troubled by the thought that the Goths were heretics.
If Roman ecclesiastics closed their eyes to this obstacle, the
inhabitants of a little mountain town evidently need nurse no
scruples in welcoming the conqueror. With acclamations and good
wishes, the crowd saw Marcian and his train set forth along the road
over the hills; before the sun had shed its first beam into the
westward valley, they had lost sight of Aletrium.

Not a word of the perils escaped had been allowed to reach
Veranilda's ear; exhausted by her journeying and her emotions, she
had slept soundly through the whole night, and this morning, when
Marcian told her how near was their destination, she laughed
light-heartedly as a child. But not yet had he looked upon her
countenance. At Aletrium he might have done so had he willed, but he
withheld himself as if from a dread temptation.

Never had he known such tremours of cowardliness as on this ride
over the hills. He strained his eyes in every direction, and
constantly imagined an enemy where there was none. The brigands, as
he found by inquiry of labouring peasants, had not even passed this
way. He would not halt, though the heat of the sun grew terrible. At
length, when exhaustion threatened men and beasts, they surmounted a
ridge, issued from a forest of chestnut-trees, and all at once, but
a little way below them, saw the gleam of the river Liris.





CHAPTER XX

THE ISLAND IN THE LIRIS




Not yet the '_taciturnus amnis_,' which it becomes in the broad,
seaward valley far below, the Liris at this point parts into two
streams, enclosing a spacious island, and on either side of the
island leaps with sound and foam, a river kindred to the mountains
which feed its flood. Between the two cataracts, linked to the river
banks with great arched bridges, stood Marcian's villa. Never more
than a modest country house, during the last fifty years an almost
total neglect had made of the greater part an uninhabitable ruin. A
score of slaves and peasants looked after what remained of the
dwelling and cultivated the land attached to it, garden, oliveyard,
vineyard, partly on the island, partly beyond the river in the
direction of Arpinum, which historic city, now but sparsely peopled,
showed on the hillside a few miles away. Excepting his house in
Rome, this was all the property that Marcian possessed. It was dear
to him because of the memories of his childhood, and for another
reason which sprang out of the depths of his being: on the night
after his mother's death (he was then a boy much given to seeing
visions) her spirit appeared to him, and foretold that he too should
die in this house 'at peace with God.' This phrase, on which he had
often brooded, Marcian understood to mean that he should reach old
age; and it had long been his settled intention to found in the
ruinous villa a little monastery, to which, when his work was over,
he could retire to pass the close of life. And now, as he rode down
behind the carriage, he was striving to keep his thought fixed on
this pious purpose. He resolved that he would not long delay. As
soon as Veranilda was safe, he would go on foot, as a pilgrim, to
the monastery at Casinum, which were but two or three days' journey,
and speak of his intention to the aged and most holy Benedict. Thus
fortified, he rode with bright visage down into the valley, and over
the bridge, and so to his own gate.

The steward and the housekeeper, who were man and wife, speedily
stood before him, and he bade them make ready with all expedition
certain chambers long unoccupied, merely saying that a lady would
for some days be his guest. Whilst Sagaris guided the horsemen to
the stables, and received them hospitably in the servants' quarter,
Marcian, using a more formal courtesy than hitherto, conducted his
charge into the great hall, and begged her to be seated for a few
minutes, until her room was prepared. Seeing that fatigue scarce
suffered her to reply, he at once withdrew, leaving her alone with
her handmaiden. And yet he had not beheld Veranilda's face.

Himself unable to take repose, he strayed about the purlieus of the
villa, in his ears the sound of rushing water, before his eyes a
flitting vision which he would not see. He had heard from his
steward the latest news of the countryside; it was said in Arpinum
that the Gothic forces were at length assembled for the march on
Rome; at Aquinum Totila would be welcomed, and what resistance was
he likely to meet with all along the Latin Way? When the horsemen
had refreshed themselves, Marcian summoned the leader; their
services, he said, would no longer be necessary; he bade them depart
as early as might be on the morrow, and bear with all speed to their
lord the bishop an important letter which he forthwith wrote and
gave to the man, together with a generous guerdon. This business
despatched, he again wandered hither and thither, incapable of rest,
incapable of clear thought, fever in his heart and in his brain.

As the sun sank, fear once more beset him. This house lay open on
all sides, its only protection being a couple of dogs, which prowled
at large. He thought with dread of the possibility of a brigand
attack. But when night had fallen, when all lights except his own
were extinguished, when no sound struck against the deep monotone of
the cataracts, this emotion yielded before another, which no less
harassed his mind. In the hall, in the corridors, in the
garden-court, he paced ceaselessly, at times walking in utter
darkness, for not yet had the moon risen. When at length its rays
fell upon the pillars of the upper gallery where Veranilda slept, he
stood looking towards her chamber, and turned away at length with a
wild gesture, like that of a demoniac in torment.

The man was torn between spiritual fervour and passions of the
flesh. With his aspiration to saintliness blended that love of his
friend which was the purest affection he had known in all the years
of manhood; yet this very love became, through evil thoughts, an
instrument against him, being sullied, poisoned by the basest spirit
of jealousy, until it seemed all but to have turned to hate. One
moment he felt himself capable of acting nobly, even as he had
resolved when at mass in the little mountain church; his bosom
glowed with the defiance of every risk; he would guard Veranilda
secretly until he could lay her hand in that of Basil. The next, he
saw only danger, impossibility, in such a purpose, and was anxious
to deliver the beautiful maiden to the king of her own race as soon
as might be--lest worse befell. Thus did he strive with himself,
thus was he racked and rent under the glowing moon.

At dawn he slept. When he rose the horsemen had long since set forth
on their journey home. He inquired which road they had taken. But to
this no one had paid heed; he could only learn that they had crossed
the river by the westward bridge, and so perhaps had gone back by
way of Aletrium, instead of descending the valley to the Latin Way.
Even yet Marcian did not feel quite safe from his Greek pursuers. He
feared a meeting between them and the Praenestines.

Having bathed (a luxury after waterless Rome), and eaten a morsel of
bread with a draught of his own wine, he called his housekeeper, and
bade her make known to the lady, his guest, that he begged
permission to wait upon her. With but a few minutes' delay Veranilda
descended to the room which lay behind the atrium. Marcian,
loitering among the ivied plane-trees without, was told of her
coming, and at once entered.

She was alone, standing at the back of the room; her hands hanging
linked before her, the lower part of the arms white against the
folds of a russet-coloured tunic. And Marcian beheld her face.

He took a few rapid steps toward her, checked himself, bowed
profoundly, and said in a somewhat abrupt voice:

'Gracious lady, is it by your own wish that you are unattended? Or
have my women, by long disuse, so forgotten their duties--'

Veranilda interrupted him.

'I assure you it was my own wish, lord Marcian. We must speak of
things which are not for others' hearing.'

In the same unnatural voice, as though he put constraint upon
himself for the performance of a disagreeable duty, he begged her to
be seated, and Veranilda, not without betraying a slight trouble of
surprise, took the chair to which he pointed. But he himself did not
sit down. In the middle of the room stood a great bronze
candelabrum, many-branched for the suspension of lamps, at its base
three figures, Pluto, Neptune, and Proserpine. It was the only work
of any value which the villa now contained, and Marcian associated
it with the memories of his earliest years. As a little child he had
often gazed at those three faces, awed by their noble gravity, and,
with a child's diffidence, he had never ventured to ask what beings
these were. He fixed his eyes upon them now, to avoid looking at
Veranilda. She, timidly glancing at him, said in her soft, low
voice, with the simplest sincerity:

'I have not yet found words in which to thank you, lord Marcian.'

'My thanks are due to you, dear lady, for gracing this poor house
with your presence.'

His tone was more suavely courteous. For an instant he looked at
her, and his lips set themselves in something meant for a smile.

'This is the end of our journey?' she asked.

'For some days--if the place does not displease you.'

'How could I be ill at ease in the house of Basil's friend, and with
the promise that Basil will soon come?'

Marcian stared at the face of Proserpine, who seemed to regard him
with solemn thoughtfulness.

'Had you any forewarning of your release from the monastery?' he
asked of a sudden.

'None. None whatever.'

'You thought you would remain there for long to come?'

'I had not dared to think of that.'

Marcian took a few paces, glanced at the sweet face, the beautiful
head with its long golden hair, and came back to his place by the
candelabrum, on which he rested a trembling hand.

'Had they spoken of making you a nun?'

A look of dread came upon her countenance, and she whispered, 'Once
or twice.'

'You would never have consented?'

'Only if I had known that release was hopeless, or that Basil--'

Her voice failed.

'That Basil--?' echoed Marcian's lips, in an undertone.

'That he was dead.'

'You never feared that he might have forgotten you?'

Again his accents were so hard that Veranilda gazed at him in
troubled wonder.

'You never feared that?' he added, with fugitive eyes.

'Had I dreamt of it,' she replied, 'I think I should not live.' Then
in a voice of anxious humility, 'Could Basil forget me?'

'Indeed, I should not think it easy,' murmured the other, his eyes
cast down. 'And what,' he continued abruptly, 'was said to you when
you left the convent? In what words did they take leave of you?'

'With none at all. I was bidden prepare for a journey, and soon
after they led me to the gates. I knew nothing, nor did the woman
with me.'

'Was the lady Aurelia in the same convent?' Marcian next inquired.

'I never saw her after we had landed from the ship which carried us
from Surrentum?'

'You do not know, of course, that Petronilla is dead?'

He told her of that, and of other events such as would interest her,
but without uttering the name of Basil. Above all, he spoke of
Totila, lauding the victorious king who would soon complete his
triumph by the conquest of Rome.

'I had all but forgotten,' were Veranilda's words, when she had
listened anxiously. 'I thought only of Basil.'

He turned abruptly from her, seemed to reflect for a moment, and
said with formal politeness:

'Permit me now to leave you, lady. This house is yours. I would it
offered you worthier accommodation. As soon as I have news, I will
again come before you.'

Veranilda rose whilst he was speaking. Her eyes were fixed upon him,
wistfully, almost pleadingly, and before he had reached the exit she
advanced a step, with lips parted as if to beseech his delay. But he
walked too hurriedly, and was gone ere she durst utter a word.

At the same hurried pace, gazing before him and seeing nothing,
Marcian left the villa, and walked until he came to the river side.
Here was a jutting rock known as the Lover's Leap; story told of a
noble maiden, frenzied by unhappy love, who had cast herself into
the roaring waterfall. Long he stood on the brink, till his eyes
dazzled from the sun-stricken foam. His mind was blasted with shame;
he could not hold his head erect. In sorry effort to recover
self-respect he reasoned inwardly thus:

'Where Basil may be I know not. If he is still at Asculum many days
must pass before a summons from me could bring him hither. He may
already be on his way to join the king, as I bade him in my last
message. The uncertainty, the danger of this situation, can be met
only in one way. On leaving Rome I saw my duty plain before me. A
desire to pleasure my friend made me waver, but I was wrong--if
Basil is to have Veranilda for his bride he can only receive her
from the hands of Totila. Anything else would mean peril to the
friend I love, and disrespect, even treachery, to the king I honour.
And so it shall be; I will torment myself no more.'

He hastened back into the villa, summoned Sagaris, and bade him be
ready in half an hour to set forth on a journey of a day or two. He
then wrote a brief letter to the king of the Goths. It was in the
Gothic tongue, such Gothic as a few Romans could command for
everyday use. Herein he told that Veranilda, intrusted to him by the
deacon Leander to be conducted to the king's camp, had arrived in
safety at his villa by Arpinum. The country being disturbed, he had
thought better to wait here with his charge until he could learn the
king's pleasure, which he begged might be made known to him as soon
as possible.

'This,' he said, when Sagaris appeared before him equipped for
travel, 'you will deliver into the king's own hands. At Aquinum you
will be directed to his camp, which cannot be far beyond. Danger
there is none between here and there. Make your utmost speed.'

Many were the confidential missions which Sagaris had discharged;
yet, looking now into his man's face, the master was troubled by a
sudden misgiving. The state of his own mind disposed him to see
peril everywhere. At another time he would not have noted so
curiously a sort of gleam in the Syrian's eye, a something on the
fellow's cunning, sensual lips, which might mean anything or
nothing. Did Sagaris divine who the veiled lady was? From the
bishop's man he could not have learned it, they themselves, as the
bishop had assured Marcian, being totally ignorant in the matter. If
he guessed the truth, as was likely enough after all the talk he had
heard concerning Veranilda, was it a danger? Had Sagaris any motive
for treachery?

'Listen,' continued Marcian, in a tone such as he had never before
used with his servant, a tone rather of entreaty than of command.
'Upon the safe and swift delivery of that letter more depends than
you can imagine. You will not lack your reward. But not a word to
any save the king. Should any one else question you, you will say
that you bear only a verbal message, and that you come direct from
Rome.'

'My lord shall be obeyed,' answered the slave, 'though I die under
torture.'

'Of that,' said Marcian, with a forced laugh, 'you need have no
fear. But, hark you!' He hesitated, again searching the man's
countenance. 'You might chance to meet some friend of mine who would
inquire after me. No matter who it be--were it even the lord Basil--you
will answer in the same words, saying that I am still in Rome. You
understand me? Were it even lord Basil who asked?'

'It shall be as my lord commands,' replied the slave, his face set
in unctuous solemnity.

'Go, then. Lose not a moment.'

Marcian watched him ride away in the blaze of the cloudless sun. The
man's head was sheltered with a broad-brimmed hat of the lightest
felt, and his horse's with a cluster of vine-leaves. He rode away at
a quick trot, the while dust rising in a cloud behind him.

And Marcian lived through the day he knew not how. It was a day of
burning sunshine, of heat scarce tolerable even in places the most
sheltered. Clad only in a loose tunic, bare-armed, bare-footed, he
lay or sauntered wherever shade was dense, as far as possible from
the part of the villa consecrated to his guest. Hour after hour
crawled by, an eternity of distressful idleness. And, even while
wishing for the day's end, he dreaded the coming of the night.

It came; the silent, lonely night, the warm, perfumed night, the
season of fierce temptations, of dreadful opportunity. Never had the
passionate soul of Marcian been so manifestly lured by the Evil One,
never had it fought so desperately in the strength of religious
hopes and fears. He knelt, he prayed, his voice breaking upon the
stillness with anguish of supplication. Between him and the
celestial vision rose that face which he had at length beheld, a
face only the more provocative of sensual rage because of its sweet
purity, its flawless truth. Then he flung himself upon the stones,
bruised his limbs, lay at length exhausted, as if lifeless.

No longer could he strengthen himself by the thought of loyalty in
friendship; that he had renounced. Yet he strove to think of Basil,
and, in doing so, knew that he still loved him. For Basil he would
do anything, suffer anything, lose anything; but when he imaged
Basil with Veranilda, at once his love turned to spleen, a sullen
madness possessed him, he hated his friend to the death.

By his own order, two watchmen stood below the stairs which led to
Veranilda's chamber. Nigh upon midnight he walked in that direction,
walked in barefooted stealth, listening for a movement, a voice.
Nearer and nearer he approached, till he saw at length the ray of a
lantern; but no step, no murmur, told of wakeful guard. Trembling as
though with cold, though sweat streamed over his body, he strode
forward; there, propped against the wall, sat the two slaves fast
asleep. Marcian glanced at the stairs; his face in the dim lantern
light was that of a devil. All of a sudden one of the men started,
and opened his eyes. Thereupon Marcian caught up a staff that lay
beside them, and began to belabour them both with savage blows.
Fiercely, frantically, he plied his weapon, until the delinquents,
who had fallen to their knees before him, roared for mercy.

'Let me find you sleeping again,' he said in a low voice, 'and your
eyes shall be burnt out.'

He stole away into the darkness, and the men whispered to each other
that he had gone mad. For Marcian was notably humane with his
slaves, never having been known even to inflict a whipping. Perhaps
they were even more astonished at this proof that their master
seriously guarded the privacy of his guest; last night they had
slept for long hours undisturbed, and, on waking, congratulated each
other with familiar jests on having done just what was expected of
them.

The morn broke dark and stormy. Thunder-clouds purpled before the
rising sun, and ere mid-day there fell torrents of rain. Heedless of
the sky, Marcian rode forth this morning; rode aimlessly about the
hills, for the villa was no longer endurable to him. He talked
awhile with a labouring serf, who told him that the plague had
broken out in Arpinum, where, during the last week or two, many had
died. From his steward he had already heard the same news, but
without heeding it; it now alarmed him, and for some hours fear had
a wholesome effect upon his thoughts. In the coolness following upon
the storm, he enjoyed a long, tranquil sleep. And this day he did
not see Veranilda.

A mile or two down the valley was a church, built by Marcian's
grandfather, on a spot where he had been saved from great peril; the
land attached to it supported two priests and certain acolytes,
together with a little colony of serfs. On his ride this morning
Marcian had passed within view of the church, and would have gone
thither but for his rain drenched clothing. Now, during the second
night of temptation, he resolved to visit the priests as soon as it
was day and to bring one of them back with him to the villa, to
remain as long as Veranilda should be there. Firm in this purpose he
rose with the rising sun, called for his horse, and rode to the
bridge. There, looking down at the white cataract, stood Veranilda
and her attendant.

He alighted. With a timid smile the maiden advanced to meet him.

'Abroad so early?' were his first words, a mere tongue-found phrase.

'I was tempted by the fresh morning. It does not displease you, lord
Marcian?'

'Nay, I am glad.'

'It is so long,' continued the gentle voice, 'since I was free to
walk under the open sky.'

Marcian forgot that his gaze was fixed upon her, forgot that he was
silent, forgot the purpose with which he had ridden forth.

'I hoped I might see you to-day,' she added. 'You have yet no news
for me?'

'None.'

The blue eyes drooped sadly.

'To-morrow, perhaps,' she murmured. Then, with an effort to seem
cheerful, as if ashamed of her troubled thought, 'I had listened so
long to a sound of falling water that I could not resist the desire
to see it. How beautiful it is!'

Marcian felt surprise; he himself saw the cataract as an object of
beauty, but had seldom heard it so spoken of, and could least of all
have expected such words on the lips of a woman, dread seeming to
him the more natural impression.

'That on the other side,' he said, pointing across the island, 'is
more beautiful still. And there is shade, whilst here the sun grows
too hot. But you must not walk so far. My horse has a very even
pace. If you would let me lift you to the saddle--'

'Oh, gladly!' she answered, with a little laugh of pleasure.

And it was done. For a moment he held her, for a moment felt the
warmth and softness of her flesh; then she sat sideways upon the
horse, looking down at Marcian with startled gaiety. He showed her
how to hold the reins, and the horse went gently forward.

'It makes me a child again,' she exclaimed. 'I have never ridden
since I was a little girl, when my father--'

Her voice died away; her look was averted, and Marcian, remembering
the shame that mingled with her memories, began to talk of other
things.

By a path that circled the villa, they came to a little wood of
ilex, which shadowed the brink of the larger cataract. Marcian had
bidden Veranilda's woman follow them, but as they entered the wood,
his companion looking eagerly before her, he turned and made a
gesture of dismissal, which the servant at once obeyed. In the
shadiest spot which offered a view of the plunging river, he asked
Veranilda if she would alight.

'Willingly, I would spend an hour here,' she replied. 'The leafage
and the water make such a delightful freshness.'

'I have anticipated your thought,' said Marcian. 'The woman is gone
to bid them bring seats.'

Veranilda glanced back in surprise and saw that they were alone. She
thanked him winsomely, and then, simply as before, accepted his
help. Again Marcian held her an instant, her slim, light body
trembling when he set her down, as if from a burden which strained
his utmost force. She stepped forward to gaze at the fall. He, with
an exclamation of alarm, caught her hand and held it.

'You are too rash,' he said in a thick voice. 'The depth, the roar
of the waters, will daze you.'

Against his burning palm, her hand was cool as a lily leaf. He did
not release it, though he knew that _his_ peril from that maidenly
touch was greater far than hers from the gulf before them.
Veranilda, accepting his protection with the thoughtlessness of a
child, leaned forward, uttering her wonder and her admiration. He,
the while, watched her lips, fed his eyes upon her cheek, her neck,
the golden ripples of her hair. At length she gently offered to draw
her hand away. A frenzy urged him to resist, but madness yielded to
cunning, and he released her.

'Of course Basil has been here,' she was saying.

'Never.'

'Never? Oh, the joy of showing him this when he comes! Lord Marcian,
you do not think it will be long?'

Her eyes seemed as though they would read in the depth of his; again
the look of troubled wonder rose to her countenance.

'It will not be more than a few days?' she added, in a timid
undertone, scarce audible upon the water's deeper note.

'I fear it may be longer,' replied Marcian.

He heard his own accents as those of another man. He, his very self,
willed the utterance of certain words, kind, hopeful, honest; but
something else within him commanded his tongue, and, ere he knew it,
he had added:

'You have never thought that Basil might forget you?'

Veranilda quivered as though she had been struck.

'Why do you again ask me that question?' she said gently, but no
longer timidly. 'Why do you look at me so? Surely,' her voice sank,
'you could not have let me feel so happy if Basil were dead?'

'He lives.'

'Then why do you look so strangely at me? Ah, he is a prisoner?'

'Not so. No man's liberty is less in danger.'

She clasped her hands before her. 'You make me suffer. I was so
light of heart, and now--your eyes, your silence. Oh, speak, lord
Marcian!'

'I have hidden the truth so long because I knew not how to utter it.
Veranilda, Basil is false to you.'

Her hands fell; her eyes grew wider in wonder. She seemed not to
understand what she had heard, and to be troubled by incomprehension
rather than by a shock of pain.

'False to me?' she murmured. 'How false?'

'He loves another woman, and for her sake has turned to the Greeks.'

Still Veranilda gazed wonderingly.

'Things have come to pass of which you know nothing,' pursued
Marcian, forcing his voice to a subdued evenness, a sad gravity.
'Listen whilst I tell you all. Had you remained but a few days
longer at Cumae, you would have been seized by the Greeks and sent
to Constantinople; for the Emperor Justinian himself had given this
command. You came to Surrentum; you plighted troth with Basil; he
would have wedded you, and--not only for safety's sake, but
because he wished well to the Goths--would have sought the
friendship of Totila. But you were carried away; vainly we searched
for you; we feared you had been delivered to the Greeks. In Rome,
Basil was tempted by a woman, whom he had loved before ever he saw
you, a woman beautiful, but evil hearted, her name Heliodora. She
won him back to her; she made him faithless to you and to the cause
of the Goths. Little by little, I learnt how far he had gone in
treachery. He had discovered where you were, but no longer desired
to release you that you might become his wife. To satisfy the
jealousy of Heliodora, and at the same time to please the Greek
commander in Rome, he plotted to convey you to Constantinople. I
having discovered this plot, found a way to defeat it. You escaped
but narrowly. When I carried you away from Praeneste, pursuers were
close behind us, therefore it was that we travelled through the
night. Here you are in safety, for King Totila is close at hand, and
will guard you against your enemies.'

Veranilda pressed her hands upon her forehead, and stood mute. As
his eyes shifted furtively about her, Marcian caught sight of
something black and undulant stirring among stones near her feet; at
once he grasped her by the arm, and drew her towards him.

'A viper!' he exclaimed, pointing.

'What of that?' was her reply, with a careless glance. 'I would not
stir a step to escape its fangs.'

And, burying her face in her hands, she wept.

These tears, this attitude of bewildered grief, were Marcian's
encouragement. He had dreaded the innocence of her eyes lest it
should turn to distrust and rejection. Had she refused to believe
him, he knew not how he would have persisted in his villainy; for,
even in concluding his story, it seemed to him that he must betray
himself; so perfidious sounded to him the voice which he could
hardly believe his own, and so slinking-knavish did he feel the
posture of his body, the movements of his limbs. The distress which
should have smitten him to the heart restored his baser courage.
Again he spoke with the sad gravity of a sympathetic friend.

'Dearest lady, I cannot bid you be comforted, but I entreat you to
pardon me, the hapless revealer of your misfortune. Say only that
you forgive me.'

'What is there to forgive?' she answered, checking her all but
silent sobs. 'You have told what it behoved you to tell. And it may
be'--her look changed of a sudden--'that I am too hasty in
embracing sorrow. How can I believe that Basil has done this? Are
you not misled by some false suspicion? Has not some enemy slandered
him to you? What can you say to make me credit a thing so evil?'

'Alas! It were but too easy for me to lengthen a tale which all but
choked me in the telling; I could name others who know, but to you
they would be only names. That of Heliodora, had you lived in Rome,
were more than enough.'

'You say he loved her before?'

'He did, dear lady, and when her husband was yet living. Now that he
is dead--'

'Have you yet told me all?' asked Veranilda, gazing fixedly at him.
'Has he married her?'

'Not yet--I think.'

Again she bowed her head. For a moment her tears fell silently, then
she looked up once more fighting against her anguish.

'It cannot be true that he would have given me to the Greeks; that
he may have forgotten me, that he may have turned to another love, I
can perhaps believe--for what am I that Basil should love me? But
to scheme my injury, to deliver me to our enemies--Oh, you are
deceived, you are deceived!'

Marcian was silent, with eyes cast down. In the branches, cicadas
trilled their monotone. The viper, which had been startled away,
again showed its lithe blackness among the stones behind Veranilda,
and Marcian, catching sight of it, again touched her arm.

'The snake! Come away from this place.'

Veranilda drew her arm back as if his touch stung her.

'I will go,' she said. 'I must be alone--my thoughts are in such
confusion I know not what I say.'

'Say but one word,' he pleaded. 'Having rescued you, I knew not how
to provide for your security save under ward of the king. Totila is
noble and merciful; all Italy will soon be his, and the Gothic rule
be re-established. Assure me that I have done well and wisely.'

'I hope you have,' answered Veranilda, regarding him for an instant.
'But I know nothing; I must bear what befalls. Let me go to my
chamber, lord Marcian, and sit alone and think.'

He led her back into the villa, and they parted without another
word.





CHAPTER XXI

THE BETRAYER BETRAYED




Sagaris, making his best speed, soon arrived at Aquinum. He and his
horse were bathed in sweat; the shelter of an inn, where he had
dinner, tempted him to linger more than he need have done, and the
fierce sun was already declining when he rode forth along the Latin
Way. As yet he had seen no Goths. Every one talked of Totila, but he
had a difficulty in ascertaining where at this moment the king was
to be found; some declared he was as near as Venafrum, others that
he lay much further down the valley of the Vulturnus. Arrived at
Venafrum, the messenger learnt that he could not have less than
another whole day's journey before him, so here be harboured for the
night.

His wily and unscrupulous mind had all day long been busy with
speculations as to the errand on which he was sent. Knowing that his
master wrote to Goths in the Gothic tongue, he was spared temptation
to break open the letter he carried; otherwise he would assuredly
have done so, for the hatred which Sagaris naturally felt for any
one in authority over him was now envenomed by jealousy, and for the
last month or two he had only waited an opportunity of injuring
Marcian and of advancing, by the same stroke, his own fortunes.

Having started from Rome in ignorance of his master's purpose, the
events of the night at Praeneste at once suggested to him the name
of the person who was being so cautiously and hurriedly conveyed
under Marcian's guard, and by the end of the journey he had no doubt
left. Here, at last, was the Gothic maiden who had been sought so
persistently by Marcian, by Basil, by Bessas, by Heliodora, and
doubtless by many others, since her disappearance from Surrentum.
Whither was she now being conducted? Sagaris did not know that among
her seekers was King Totila himself; on the other hand, he had much
reason for suspecting that Marcian pursued Veranilda with a lover's
passion, and when the journey ended at the island villa, when the
convoy of horsemen was dismissed, when he himself was sent off to a
distance, he saw his suspicion confirmed. By some supreme subtlety,
Marcian had got the beautiful maiden into his power, and doubtless
the letter he was sending to Totila contained some device for the
concealing of what had happened.

Now to the Syrian this would have been a matter of indifference, but
for his secret communications with Heliodora and all that had
resulted therefrom. Heliodora's talk was of three persons--of
Marcian, of Basil, of Veranilda--and Sagaris, reasoning from all
the gossip he had heard, and from all he certainly knew, concluded
that the Greek lady had once loved Basil, but did so no more, that
her love had turned to Marcian, and that she either knew or
suspected Marcian to be a rival of Basil for the love of Veranilda.
Thus had matters stood (he persuaded himself) until his own entrance
on the scene. That a woman might look with ardent eyes on more than
one man in the same moment, seemed to Sagaris the simplest of facts;
he consequently found it easy to believe that, even whilst loving
Marcian, Heliodora should have conceived a tenderness for Marcian's
slave. That Heliodora's professions might be mere trickery, he never
imagined; his vanity forbade it; at each successive meeting he
seemed to himself to have strengthened his hold upon the luxurious
woman; each time he came away with a fiercer hatred of Marcian, and
a deeper resolve to ruin him. True, as yet, he had fed only on
promises, but being the man he was, he could attribute to Heliodora
a selfish interest in combination with a lover's desire; what more
intelligible than that she should use him to the utmost against
those she hated, postponing his reward until he had rendered her
substantial service? Thus did Sagaris feel and reason, whilst riding
along the Latin Way. His difficulty was to decide how he should act
at this juncture; how, with greatest profit to himself, he could do
most scathe to Marcian.

Was his master serving the Greeks or the Goths? Uncertainty on this
point had long troubled his meditations, and was now a cause of
grave embarrassment. Eager to betray, he could not be sure to which
side betrayal should direct itself. On the whole he himself favoured
Totila, feeling sure that the Goth would bring the war to a
triumphant end; and on this account he was disposed to do his errand
faithfully. If the king interrogated him, he could draw conclusions
from the questions asked, and could answer as seemed best for his
own ends. So he decided to push on, and, despite the storm which
broke on this second morning, he rode out from Venafrum.

A few hours' travel, and, drenched with the furious rain, he came to
Aesernia. This town stood in a strong position on an isolated hill;
its massive walls yet compassed it about. On arriving at the gate he
found himself unexpectedly challenged by armed men, who, though
Italians, he at once suspected to be in the Gothic service. A
moment's hesitancy in replying to the questions, 'Whence?' and
'Whither?' sufficed to put him under arrest. He was led to the
captain, in whom with relief he recognised Venantius of Nuceria. His
doubts being at an end, for he knew that this Roman noble had long
since openly joined Totila, he begged that Venantius would hear him
in private, and this being granted, began by telling in whose
service he was.

'I thought I somehow remembered your face,' said the captain, whose
look seemed to add that the face did not particularly please him.
'And where is the lord Marcian?'

'In Rome, Illustrious.'

'You have come straight from Rome, then?'

The answer was affirmative and boldly given.

'And whither are you bound? On what business?'

Sagaris, still obeying his master's injunctions, declared that he
carried a verbal message to the King of the Goths, and for him
alone. Having reflected for a moment, Venantius called the soldier
who stood without the door.

'See to the wants of this messenger. Treat him hospitably, and bring
him hither again in an hour's time.'

The captain then walked to a house close by, where, admitted to the
atrium, he was at once met by an elderly lady, who bent respectfully
before him.

'Has the traveller yet risen?' he began by asking.

'Not yet, my lord. A little while ago his servant told me that he
was still sleeping.'

'Good; he will recover from his fatigue. But pray inquire whether he
is now awake, for I would speak with him as soon as may be.'

The lady was absent for a minute or two, then brought word that the
traveller had just awoke.

'I will go to his bedside,' said Venantius.

He was led to an upper chamber, a small, bare, tiled-floored room,
lighted by a foot-square window, on which the shutter was half
closed against the rays of the sun. Some aromatic odour hung in the
air.

'Do you feel able to talk?' asked the captain as he entered.

'I am quite restored,' was the reply of a man sitting up in the bed.
'The fever has passed.'

'So much for the wisdom of physicians!' exclaimed Venantius with a
laugh. 'That owl-eyed Aesernian who swears by Aesculapius that he
has studied at Constantinople, Antioch, and I know not where else,
whispered to me that you would never behold to-day's sunset. I
whispered to _him_ that he was an ass, and that if he uttered the
word _plague_ to any one in the house, I would cut his ears off.
Nevertheless, I had you put into this out-of-the-way room, that you
might not be disturbed by noises. Who'--he sniffed--'has been
burning perfumes?'

'My good fellow Felix. Though travel-worn and wounded, he has sat by
me all the time, and would only go to bed when I woke up with a cool
forehead.'

'A good fellow, indeed. His face spells honesty. I can't say so much
for that of a man I have just been talking with--a messenger of
your friend Marcian.'

The listener started as though he would leap out of bed. A rush of
colour to his cheeks banished the heavy, wan aspect which had partly
disguised him, and restored the comely visage of Basil. A messenger
from Marcian? he exclaimed. With news for _him_? And, as if
expecting a letter, he stretched forth his hand eagerly.

'He has nothing, that I know of, for you,' said the captain. 'If he
tells the truth, he is charged with a message for the king.'

'Is it Sagaris--a Syrian slave?'

'A Syrian, by his looks; one I remember to have seen with Marcian a
year ago.'

'Sagaris, to be sure. Then you can trust him. He has the eye of his
race, and is a prating braggart, but Marcian has found him honest. I
must see him, Venantius. Will you send him to me, dear lord?'

Venantius had seated himself on a chair that was beside the bed; he
wore a dubious look, and, before speaking again, glanced keenly at
Basil.

'Did you not expect,' he asked, 'to meet Marcian in the king's
camp?'

'My last news from him bade me go thither as fast as I could, as he
himself was leaving Rome to join the king. I should have gone a
little out of my road to visit his villa near Arpinum, on the chance
of hearing news of him there; but our encounter with the marauders
drove me too far away.'

'So much,' said Venantius, 'I gathered from your talk last night,
when you were not quite so clear-headed as you are now. What I want
to discover is whether this Syrian has lied to me. He declares that
he left Marcian in Rome. Now it happens that some of our men, who
were sent for a certain purpose, yesterday, along the Latin Way,
came across half a dozen horsemen, riding westward, and as their
duty was, learnt all they could from them. These six fellows
declared themselves servants of the bishop of Praeneste, and said
that they had just been convoying a Roman noble and a lady to a
villa not far from Arpinum. And the noble's name--they had it,
said they, from his own servants at the villa, where they had passed
a night--was Marcian.'

Basil stared; he had gone pale again and haggard.

'What lady was with him?' he asked, under his breath.

'That I cannot tell you. The bishop's men knew nothing about her,
and had not seen her face. But'--Venantius smiled--'they left
her safely housed with our friend Marcian. How comes this Syrian to
say that his master is at Rome? Does he lie? Or did the horsemen
lie? Or are there, perchance, two Marcians?'

'I must speak with him,' said Basil. 'Leave me to find out the truth
for you. Send Sagaris here, Venantius, I entreat you.'

The captain appeared to hesitate, but, on Basil's beseeching him not
to delay, he agreed and left the room. As soon as he was alone,
Basil sprang up and dressed. He was aching from head to foot, and a
parched mouth, a hot hand, told of fever in his blood. On receipt of
Marcian's last letter, he had not delayed a day before setting
forth; all was in readiness for such a summons, and thirty
well-mounted, well-armed men, chosen from the slaves and freedmen on
his Asculan estate in Picenum, rode after him to join the King of
the Goths. The journey was rapidly performed; already they were
descending the lower slopes of the westward Apennine, when they had
the ill-luck to fall in with that same band of marauders which
Marcian so narrowly escaped. Basil's first thought was that the
mounted troop coming towards him might hem the Gothic service, but
this hope was soon dispelled. Advancing with fierce threats, the
robbers commanded him and his men to alight, their chief desire
being no doubt to seize the horses and arms. Though outnumbered,
Basil shouted defiance; a conflict began, and so stout was the
resistance they met that, after several had fallen on either side,
the brigands drew off. Not, however, in final retreat; galloping on
in hope of succour, Basil found himself pursued, again lost two or
three men, and only with the utmost difficulty got clear away.

It was the young Roman's first experience of combat. For this he had
been preparing himself during the past months, exercising his body
and striving to invigorate his mind, little apt for warlike
enterprise. When the trial came, his courage did not fail, but the
violent emotions of that day left him so exhausted, so shaken in
nerve, that he could scarce continue his journey. He had come out of
the fight unwounded, but at nightfall fever fell upon him, and he
found no rest. The loss of some half dozen men grieved him to the
heart; had the brave fellows fallen in battle with the Greeks, he
would have thought less of it; to see them slain, or captured, by
mere brigands was more than he could bear. When at length he reached
Aesernia, and there unexpectedly met with Venantius, he fell from
his horse like a dying man. A draught given by the physician sent
him to sleep, and from the second hour after sunset until nearly
noon of to-day he had lain unconscious.

What he now learnt from Venantius swept into oblivion all that he
had undergone. If it were true that Marcian had travelled in this
direction with a lady under his guard, Basil could not doubt for a
moment who that lady was. The jest of Venantius did not touch him,
for Venantius spoke, it was evident, without a thought of Veranilda,
perhaps had forgotten her existence; not the faintest tremor of
uneasiness stirred in Basil's mind when he imagined Veranilda at his
friend's house; Marcian had discovered her, had rescued her, had
brought her thither to rest in safety till her lover could join
them--brave Marcian, truest of friends! For this had he sent the
summons southward, perhaps not daring to speak more plainly in a
letter, perhaps not being yet quite sure of success. This had he so
often promised--O gallant Marcian!

Quivering with eagerness, he stood at the door of his chamber.
Footsteps sounded; there appeared a slave of the house, and behind
him that dark, handsome visage which he was expecting.

'Sagaris! My good Sagaris!' he cried joyously.

The Syrian knelt before him and kissed his hand, but uttered no
word. At sight of Basil, for which he was not at all prepared,
Sagaris felt a happy shock; he now saw his way before him, and had
no more anxiety. But, on rising from the obeisance, he let his head
drop; his eyes wandered: one would have said that he shrank from
observation.

'Speak low,' said Basil, standing by the open door so as to guard
against eavesdropping. 'What message have you for me?'

Sagaris replied that he had none.

'None? Your lord charged you with nothing for me in case you should
meet me on your way?'

Again Sagaris murmured a negative, and this time with so manifest an
air of confusion that Basil stared at him, suspicious, angry.

'What do you mean? What are you keeping from me?'

The man appeared to stammer incoherencies.

'Listen,' said Basil in a low, friendly voice. 'You know very well
that the lord Marcian has no secrets from me. With me you can speak
in entire confidence. What has come to you, man? Tell me--did your
lord leave Rome before or after you?'

'At the same time.'

No sooner had this reply fallen from his lips than Sagaris seemed
stricken with alarm. He entreated pardon, declared he knew not what
he was saying, that he was dazed by the weariness of travel.

'I should have said--neither before nor after. My lord remains in
the city. I was to return with all speed.'

'He remains in the city?'

Basil reflected. It was possible that Marcian had either purposely
concealed his journey from this slave, and had suddenly found
himself able to set forth just after Sagaris had started.

'You bear a letter for the king?' he asked.

'A letter, Illustrious,' answered the slave, speaking very low.

'Ah, a letter?'

Sagaris went on to say that he had kept this a secret from
Venantius, his master having bidden him speak of it to no one and
deliver it into the king's own hand.

'It is in the Gothic tongue,' he added, his head bent, his look more
furtive than ever; 'and so urgent that I have scarce rested an hour
since leaving the villa.'

A terrible light flashed into Basil's eyes. Then he sprang at the
speaker, caught him by the throat, forced him to his knees.

'Scoundrel, you dare to lie to me! So you started from the villa and
not from Rome?'

Sagaris cried out for mercy, grovelled on the floor. He would tell
everything; but he implored Basil to keep the secret, for, did his
master learn what had happened, his punishment would be terrible.

'Fool!' cried Basil fiercely. 'How come you to have forgotten all at
once that I am your lord's chosen friend, and that everything
concerning him is safe with me. In very deed, I think you have
ridden too hard in the sun; your brains must have frizzled.
Blockhead! If in haste, the lord Marcian did not speak of me, he
took it for granted that, should you meet me--'

Something so like a malicious smile flitted over the slave's
countenance that in extremity of wrath he became mute.

'Your Nobility is deceived,' said Sagaris, in the same moment. 'My
lord expressly forbade me to tell you the truth, should I see you on
my journey.'

Basil stared at him.

'I swear by the holy Cross,' exclaimed the other, 'that this is
true. And if I did not dread your anger, I could tell you the
reason. I dare not. By all the saints I dare not!'

A strange quiet fell upon Basil. It seemed as if he would ask no
more questions; he half turned away, and stood musing. Indeed, it
was as though he had already heard all the slave had to tell, and so
overcome was he by the revelation that speech, even connected
thought, was at first impossible. As he recovered from the
stupefying blow, the blood began to boil in his veins. He felt as
when, in the fight of two days ago, he saw the first of his men
pierced by a javelin. Turning again to Sagaris, he plied him with
brief and rapid questions, till he had learnt every detail of
Marcian's journey from Rome to the villa. The Syrian spoke of the
veiled lady without hesitation as Veranilda, and pretended to have
known for some time that she was in a convent at Praeneste; but,
when interrogated as to her life at the villa, he affected an
affectation of doubt, murmuring that he had beheld nothing with his
own eyes, that perhaps the female slaves gossiped idly.

'What do they say?' asked Basil with unnatural self-control.

'They speak of her happy mien and gay talk, of her walking with my
lord in private. But I know nothing.'

Basil kept his eyes down for a long minute, then moved like one who
has taken a resolve.

'Show me the letter you bear,' he commanded.

Sagaris produced it, and having looked at the seal, Basil silently
handed it back again.

'Thrice noble,' pleaded the slave, 'you will not deliver me to my
lord's wrath?'

'Have no fear; unless in anything you have lied to me. Follow.'

They descended the stairs, and Basil had himself conducted to the
house where Venantius sate at dinner. He spoke with the captain in
private.

'This slave has a letter, not merely a message, for the king. He
says it is urgent, and so it may be; but, from what I have learnt I
doubt whether he is wholly to be trusted. Can you send some one with
him?'

'Nothing easier.'

'I,' continued Basil, 'ride straightway for Arpinum. Ask me no
questions, Venantius. When I return, if I do return, you shall know
what sent me there. I may be back speedily.'

He took food, and in an hour's time was ready to start. Of his
followers, he chose ten to accompany him. The rest remained at
Aesernia. Felix, worn out by watching and with a slight wound in the
side which began to be troublesome, he was reluctantly obliged to
leave. Having inquired as to the road over the mountains by which he
might reach Arpinum more quickly than by the Latin Way, he rode
forth from the town, and was soon spurring at headlong speed in a
cloud of dust.

His thoughts far outstripped him; he raged at the prospect of long
hours to elapse ere he could reach Marcian's villa. With good luck
he might arrive before nightfall. If disappointed in that, a whole
night must pass, an eternity of torment, before he came face to face
with him he had called his dearest friend, now his abhorred enemy.

What if he did not find him at the villa? Marcian had perhaps no
intention of remaining there. Perhaps he had already carried off his
victim to some other place.

Seeing their lord post so furiously, the men looked in wonder at
each other. Some of them were soon left far behind, and Basil,
though merciless in his frenzy, saw at length that his horse was
seriously distressed; he slackened pace, allowed his followers to
rejoin him, and rode, perforce, at what seemed to him a mere crawl.
The sun was a flaming furnace; the earth seemed to be overspread
with white fire-ash, which dazed the eyes and choked. But Basil felt
only the fire in his heart and brain. Forgetful of all about him, he
had not ridden more than a few miles, when he missed the road; his
men, ignorant of the country, followed him without hesitation, and
so it happened that, on stopping at one of the few farms on their
way, to ask how far it still was to Arpinum, he learnt that he must
ride back for nearly a couple of hours to regain the track he should
have taken. He broke into frantic rage, cursed the countrymen who
directed him, and as he spurred his beast, cursed it too because of
its stumbling at a stone.

There was now no hope of finishing the journey to-day. His head on
his breast, Basil rode more and more slowly. The sun declined, and
ere long it would be necessary to seek harbourage. But here among
the hills no place of human habitation came in view. Luckily for
themselves some of the horsemen had brought provender. Their lord
had given thought to no such thing. The sun set; the hills cast a
thickening shadow, even Basil began to gaze uneasily ahead. At
length there appeared a building, looking in the dusky distance like
a solitary country house. It proved to be the ruin of a temple.

'Here we must stop,' said Basil. 'My horse can go no further.
Indeed, the darkness would stay us in any case. We must shelter in
these walls.'

The men peered at each other, and a whisper went among them. For
their part, said one and all, they would rest under the open sky.
Basil understood.

'What! you are afraid? Fools, do as you will. These walls shall
shelter me though all the devils in hell were my bedfellows.'

What had come to him? asked his followers. Never had Basil been
known to speak thus. Spite of their horror of a forsaken temple, two
or three entered, and respectfully made offer of such food as they
had with them. Basil accepted a piece of bread, bade them see to his
horse, and crept into a corner of the building. He desired to be
alone and to think; for it seemed to him that he had not yet been
able to reflect upon the story told by Sagaris. What was it that
lurked there at the back of his mind? A memory, a suggestion of some
sort, which would have helped him to understand could he but grasp
it. As he munched his bread he tried desperately to think, to
remember; but all within him was a passionate misery, capable only
of groans and curses. An intolerable weariness possessed his limbs.
After sitting for a while with his back against the wall, he could
not longer hold himself in this position, but sank down and lay at
full length; and even so he ached, ached, from head to foot.

Perhaps an hour had passed, and it was now quite dark within the
temple, when two of the men appeared with blazing torches, for they,
by means of flint and iron, had lit a fire in a hollow hard by, and
meant to keep it up through the night as a protection against
wolves. They brought Basil a draught of water in a leather bottle,
from a little stream they had found; and he drank gratefully, but
without a word. The torchlight showed bare walls and a shattered
roof. Having searched all round and discovered neither reptile nor
beast, the men made a bed of leaves and bracken, with a folded cloak
for a pillow, and invited their master to lie upon it. Basil did so,
turned his face away, and bade them leave him alone.

What was that memory at the back of his mind? In the effort to draw
it forth he ground his teeth together, dug his nails into his hands.
At moments he forgot why he was wretched, and, starting up, strained
his eyes into the darkness, until he saw the face of Sagaris and
heard him speaking.

For a while he slept; but dreadful dreams soon awoke him, and,
remembering where he was, he shook with horror. Low sounds fell upon
his ear, movements, he thought, in the black night. He would have
shouted to his men, but shame kept him mute. He crossed himself and
prayed to the Virgin; then, raising his eyes, he saw through the
broken roof a space of sky in which a star shone brilliantly. It
brought him comfort; but the next moment he remembered Sagaris, and
mental anguish blended with his fears of the invisible.

Again sleep overcame him. He dreamt that an evil spirit, with a face
he knew but could not name, was pursuing him over trackless
mountains. He fled like the wind; but the spirit was close behind
him, and wherever he turned his head, he saw the familiar face
grinning a devilish mockery. A precipice lay before him. He leapt
wildly, and knew at once that he had leapt into fire, into hell. But
the red gleam was that of a torch, and before him, as he opened his
eyes, stood one of his faithful attendants who had come to see if
all was well with him. He asked for water, and the man fetched him a
draught. It was yet long till dawn.

Now he could not lie still, for fever burned him. Though awake, he
saw visions, and once sent forth what seemed to him a yell of
terror; but in truth it was only a moan, and no one heard. He
relived through the fight with the marauders; sickened with dread at
the gleam of weapons; flamed into fury, and shouted with savage
exultation as he felt his sword cut the neck of an enemy. He was
trying to think of Veranilda, but all through the night her image
eluded him, and her name left him cold. He was capable only of
hatred. At daybreak he slept heavily; the men, approaching him and
looking at his haggard face, thought better to let him rest, and
only after sunrise did he awake. He was angry that they had not
aroused him sooner, got speedily to horse, and rode off almost at
the same speed as yesterday. Now, at all events, he drew near to his
goal; for a ride of an hour or two he needed not to spare his beast;
sternly he called to his men to follow him close.

And all at once, as though his brain were restored by the freshness
of the morning, he grasped the thought which had eluded him.
Marcian's treachery was no new thing: twice he had been warned
against his seeming friend, by Petronilla and by Bessas, and in his
folly he had scorned the accusation which time had now so bitterly
justified. Forgotten, utterly forgotten, until this moment; yet how
blinded he must have been by his faith in Marcian's loyalty not to
have reflected upon many circumstances prompting suspicion. Marcian
had perhaps been false to him from the very day of Veranilda's
disappearance, and how far did his perfidy extend? Had he merely
known where she was concealed, or had he seen her, spoken with her,
wooed her all along? He had won her; so much was plain; and he could
scarce have done so during the brief journey to his villa. O
villainous Marcian! O fickle, wanton Veranilda!

So distinct before his fiery imagination shone the image of those
two laughing together, walking alone (as Sagaris had reported), that
all reasoning, such as a calmer man might have entertained, was
utterly forbidden. Not a doubt crossed his mind. And in his heart
was no desire but of vengeance.

At length he drew near to Arpinum. Avoiding the town, he questioned
a peasant at work in the fields, and learnt his way to the island.
Just as he came within view of the eastward waterfall, a girl was
crossing the bridge, away from the villa. Basil drew rein, bidding
his men do likewise, and let the girl, who had a bundle on her head,
draw near. At sight of the horsemen, of whom she was not aware till
close by them, the maid uttered a cry of alarm, and would have run
back but Basil intercepted her, jumped from his horse, and bade her
have no fear, as he only wished to ask a harmless question. Easily
he learnt that Marcian was at the villa, that he had arrived a few
days ago, and that with him had come a lady.

'What is that lady's name?' he inquired.

The girl did not know. Only one or two of the slaves, she said, had
seen her; she was said to be beautiful, with long yellow hair.

'She never goes out?' asked Basil.

The reply was that, only this morning, she had walked in the wood--
the wood just across the bridge--with Marcian.

Basil sprang on to his horse, beckoned his troop, and rode forward.





CHAPTER XXII

DOOM




When Marcian parted from Veranilda in the peristyle, and watched her
as she ascended to her chamber, he knew that sombre exultation which
follows upon triumph in evil. Hesitancies were now at end; no longer
could he be distracted between two desires. In his eye, as it
pursued the beauty for which he had damned himself, glowed the fire
of an unholy joy. Not without inner detriment had Marcian accustomed
himself for years to wear a double face; though his purpose had been
pure, the habit of assiduous perfidy, of elaborate falsehood, could
not leave his soul untainted. A traitor now for his own ends, he
found himself moving in no unfamiliar element, and, the irrevocable
words once uttered, he thrilled with defiance of rebuke. All the
persistency of the man centred itself upon the achievement of this
crime, to him a crime no longer from the instant that he had
irreversibly willed it.

On fire to his finger-tips, he could yet reason with the coldest
clarity of thought. Having betrayed his friend thus far, he must
needs betray him to the extremity of traitorhood; must stand face to
face with him in the presence of the noble Totila, and accuse him
even as he had done to Veranilda. Only thus, as things had come
about, could he assure himself against the fear that Totila, in
generosity, or policy, or both, might give the Amal-descended maid
to Basil. To defeat Basil's love was his prime end, jealousy being
more instant with him than fleshly impulse. Yet so strong had this
second motive now become, that he all but regretted his message to
the king: to hold Veranilda in his power, to gratify his passion
sooner or later, by this means or by that, he would perhaps have
risked all the danger to which such audacity exposed him. But
Marcian was not lust-bitten quite to madness. For the present,
enough to ruin the hopes of Basil. This done, the field for his own
attempt lay open. By skilful use of his advantages, he might bring
it to pass that Totila would grant him a supreme reward--the hand
of Veranilda.

Unless, indeed, the young king, young and warm-blooded however noble
of mind, should himself look upon Veranilda with a lover's eyes. It
was not the first time that Marcian had thought of this. It made him
wince. But he reminded himself that herein lay another safeguard
against the happiness of Basil, and so was able to disregard the
fear.

He would let his victim repose during the heat of the day, and then,
towards evening, would summon her to another interview. Not much
longer could he hope to be with her in privacy; to-morrow, or the
next day at latest, emissaries of the Gothic king would come in
response to his letter. But this evening he should speak with her,
gaze upon her, for a long, long hour. She was gentle, meek, pious;
in everything the exquisite antithesis of such a woman as Heliodora.
Out of very humility she allowed herself to believe that Basil had
ceased to love her. How persuade her, against the pure loyalty of
her heart, that he had even plotted her surrender to an unknown
fate? What proof of that could he devise? Did he succeed in
overcoming her doubts, would he not have gone far towards winning
her gratitude?

She would shed tears again; it gave him a nameless pleasure to see
Veranilda weep.

Thinking thus, he strayed aimlessly and unconsciously in courts and
corridors. Night would come again, and could he trust himself
through the long, still night after long speech with Veranilda? A
blacker thought than any he had yet nurtured began to stir in his
mind, raising its head like the viper of an hour ago. Were she but
his--his irredeemably? He tried to see beyond that, but his vision
blurred.

Her nature was gentle, timid; the kind of nature, he thought, which
subdues itself to the irreparable. So soft, so sweet, so utterly
woman, might she not, thinking herself abandoned by Basil, yield
heart and soul to a man whom she saw helpless to resist a passionate
love of her? Or, if this hope deceived him, was there no artifice
with which to cover his ill-doing, no piece of guile subtle enough
to cloak such daring infamy?

He was in the atrium, standing on the spot where first he had talked
with her. As then, he gazed at the bronze group of the candelabrum;
his eyes were fixed on those of Proserpine.

A slave entered and announced to him a visit from one of the priests
whom he was going to see when the meeting at the bridge changed his
purpose. The name startled him. Was this man sent by God? He bade
introduce the visitor, and in a moment there entered a
white-bearded, shoulder-bowed ecclesiastic, perspiring from the
sunshine, who greeted him with pleasant cordiality. This priest it
was--he bore the name Gaudiosus--who had baptized Marcian, and
had given him in childhood religious teaching; a good, but timid
man, at all times readier to praise than to reprove, a well-meaning
utterer of smooth things, closing his eyes to evil, which confused
rather than offended him. From the same newsbearer, who told him of
Marcian's arrival at the villa, Gaudiosus had heard of a mysterious
lady; but it was far from his thought to meddle with the morals of
one whose noble birth and hereditary position of patron inspired him
with respect; he came only to gossip about the affairs of the time.
They sat down together, Marcian glad of the distraction. But scarce
had they been talking for five minutes, when again the servant
presented himself.

'What now?' asked his master impatiently.

'My lord, at the gate is the lord Basil.'

Marcian started up.

'Basil? How equipped and attended?'

'Armed, on horseback, and with a number of armed horsemen.'

'Withdraw, and wait outside till I call you.'

Marcian turned to the presbyter. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes
strangely bright.

'Here,' he said, in low, hurried tones, 'comes an evil man, a
deep-dyed traitor, with the aspect of friendliest integrity. I am
glad you are with me. I have no leisure now to tell you the story;
you shall hear it afterwards. What I ask of you, reverend father, is
to bear me out in all I say, to corroborate, if asked to do so, all
I state to him. You may rely upon the truth of every word I shall
utter; and may be assured that, in doing this, you serve only the
cause of good. Let it not surprise you that I receive the man with
open arms. He was my dear friend; I have only of late discovered his
infamy, and for the gravest reasons, which you shall learn, I am
obliged to mask my knowledge. Beloved father, you will give me your
countenance?'

'I will, I will,' replied Gaudiosus nervously. 'You would not
deceive me, I well know, dear son.'

'God forbid!'

Marcian summoned the waiting servant, and ordered that the traveller
should be straightway admitted. A few minutes passed in absolute
silence, then, as the two stood gazing towards the entrance, they
saw the gleam of a casque and of a breastplate, and before them
stood Basil. His arms extended, Marcian stepped forward.

'So soon, O brave Basil!' he exclaimed. 'What speed you must have
made! How long is it since my letter reached you?'

There passed the semblance of an embrace between them. Basil was
death pale; he spoke in hollow tones, as though his tongue were
parched, and looked with bloodshot eyes from Marcian to the
ecclesiastic.

'I am travel-worn. Your hospitality must restore me.'

'That it shall,' replied Marcian. 'Or, better still,' he added, 'the
hospitality of my father Gaudiosus.' He touched the priest's arm, as
if affectionately. 'For here there is little solace; barely one
chamber habitable. You have often heard me describe, O Basil, my
poor, ruinous island villa, and now at length you behold it. I did
not think you would pass this way, or I would have prepared for your
fitting reception. By the greatest chance you find me here; and
to-morrow I must be gone. But scarce two thousand paces from here is
the dwelling of this reverend man, who will entertain you fittingly,
and give you the care you need; for it seems to me, dear Basil, that
you are more than wearied.'

The listener nodded, and let himself drop upon a seat near to where
Marcian was standing.

'What have you to tell me?' he asked under his breath.

'Nothing good, alas!' was the murmured reply.

'Shall we speak in private?'

'Nay, it is needless. All my secrets lie open to Gaudiosus.'

Again Basil cast a glance at the presbyter, who had seated himself
and appeared to be absorbed in thought.

'Do you mean,' he asked, 'that something new has befallen?'

His eyes were upon Marcian, and Marcian's upon those of Proserpine.

'Yes, something new. The deacon of whom you know has left Rome,
accompanying the Pope on his journey eastward. And with him he has
taken--'

A name was shaped upon the speaker's lips, but whether of purpose,
or because his voice failed him, it found no utterance.

'Veranilda?'

As Basil spoke, his eye was caught by the movement of a curtain at
the back of the room. The curtain was pushed aside, and there
appeared the figure of a maiden, pale, beautiful. Marcian did not
see her, nor yet did the priest.

'Veranilda?' repeated Basil, in the same questioning tone. He leaned
forward, his hand upon his wrist.

'She--alas!' was Marcian's reply.

'Liar! traitor! devil!'

At each word, Basil's dagger drank blood up to the hilt. With his
furious voice blended a yell of terror, of agony, a faint cry of
horror from Gaudiosus, and a woman's scream. Then came silence.

The priest dropped to his knees by Marcian's prostrate form. Basil,
the stained weapon in his crimson hand, stared at Veranilda, who
also had fallen.

'Man! What hast thou done?' gasped Gaudiosus.

The trembling, senile tones wakened Basil as if from a trance. He
thrust his dagger into its sheath, stepped to the back of the room,
and bent over the white loveliness that lay still.

'Is it death?' he murmured.

'Death! death!' answered the priest, who had just heard Marcian's
last sob.

'I speak not of that perjured wretch,' said Basil. 'Come hither.'

Gaudiosus obeyed, and looked with wonder at the unconscious face.

'Who is this?' he asked.

'No matter who. Does she live?'

Basil had knelt, and taken one of the little hands in both his own,
staining it with the blood of Marcian.

'I can feel no throb of life,' he said, speaking coldly,
mechanically.

The priest bent, and put his cheek to her lips.

'She lives. This is but a swoon. Help me to bear her to the couch.'

But Basil took the slender body in his arms, and carried it like
that of a child. When he had laid it down, he looked at Gaudiosus
sternly.

'Have you authority in this house?'

'Some little, perhaps. I know not. What is your will?'

Utterly confounded, his eyes dropping moisture, his limbs shaken as
if with palsy, the priest babbled his reply.

'Use any power you have,' continued Basil, 'to prevent more
bloodshed. Outside the gates are men of mine. Bid the porter admit
them to the outer court. Then call thither two servants, and let
them bear away _that_--whither you will. After, you shall hear
more.'

Like an obedient slave, Gaudiosus sped on his errand. Basil the
while stood gazing at Veranilda; but he did not go very near to her,
and his look had nothing of tenderness. He saw the priest return,
followed by two men, heard him whisper to them, saw them take up and
carry away their master's corpse; all this as if it did not regard
him. Again he turned his gaze upon Veranilda. It seemed to him that
her lips, her eyelids moved. He bent forward, heard a sigh. Then the
blue eyes opened, but as yet saw nothing.

Gaudiosus reappeared, and Basil beckoned him.

'You do not know her?' he asked in a low voice.

'I never looked upon her face till now,' was the reply.

At the sound of their voices Veranilda stirred, tried to rouse
herself, uttered a sound of distress.

'Speak to her,' said Basil.

Gaudiosus approached the couch, and spoke soothing words.

'What dreadful thought is this?' said Veranilda. 'What have I seen?'

The priest whispered an adjuration to prayer. But she, raising her
head, cast terrified glances about the hall. Basil had moved further
away, and she did not seem to be aware of his presence.

'How long is it,' he asked, with his eyes upon Gaudiosus, 'since
Marcian came from Rome?'

'This is the fourth day. So I have been told. I myself saw him for
the first time not an hour--nay, not half an hour ago.'

'You knew not that he brought _her_ with him?'

Basil, without looking in that direction, signalled with his head
towards Veranilda.

'I had heard of some companion unnamed.'

'He had not spoken of her to you?'

'Not a word.'

On the tesselated floor where Marcian had fallen was a pool of
blood. Basil only now perceived it, and all at once a violent
shudder went over him.

'Man of God!' he exclaimed in a voice of sudden passion, terribly
resonant after the dull, hard accents of his questioning. 'You look
upon me with abhorrence, and, perhaps, with fear. Hearken to my
vindication. He whom I have slain was the man I held in dearest
friendship. I believed him true to the heart's core. Yesterday--
was it but yesterday?--O blessed Christ!--it seems to me so long
ago--I learned that his heart was foul with treachery. Long, long,
he has lied to me, pretending to seek with me for one I had lost, my
plighted love. In secret he robbed me of her. Heard you not his
answer when, to catch the lie on his very lips, I asked what news he
could give me of her. I knew that she was here; his own servant had
secretly avowed the truth to me. And you heard him say that she was
gone on far travel. Therefore it was that he would not harbour me in
his house--me, his friend. In the name of the Crucified, did I not
well to lay him low?'

Somewhat recovered from the emotions which had enfeebled him,
Gaudiosus held up his head, and made solemn answer.

'Not yours was it to take vengeance. The God to whom you appeal has
said: "Thou shalt do no murder."'

'Consider his crime,' returned the other. 'In the moment when he
swore falsely I lifted up my eyes, and behold, she herself stood
before me. She whom I loved, who had pledged herself to me, who long
ago would have been my wife but for the enemy who came between us--
she, hidden here with him, become a wanton in his embraces--'

A low cry of anguish interrupted him. He turned. Veranilda had risen
and drawn near.

'Basil! You know not what you say.'

'Nor what I _could_ say,' he replied, his eyes blazing with scorn.
'You, who were truth itself have you so well learned to lie? Talk
on. Tell me that he held you here perforce, and that you passed the
days and the nights in weeping. Have I not heard of your smiles and
your contentment? Whither did you stray this morning? Did you go
into the wood to say your orisons?'

Veranilda turned to the priest.

'Servant of God I Hear me, unhappy that I am!'

With a gesture of entreaty she flung out her hands, and, in doing
so, saw that one of them was red. Her woebegone look changed to
terror.

'What is this? His blood is upon me--on my hand, my garment. When
did I touch him? Holy father, whither has he gone? Does he live? Oh,
tell me if he lives!'

'Come hence with me,' said Gaudiosus. 'Come where I may hear you
utter the truth before God.'

But Veranilda was as one distraught. She threw herself on to her
knees.

'Tell me he lives. He is but sorely hurt? He can speak? Whither have
they carried him?'

Confirmed in his damning thought by every syllable she uttered,
Basil strode away.

'Lead her where you will,' he shouted. 'I stay under this abhorred
roof only till my men have eaten and taken rest.'

Without knowing it, he had stepped into the pool of blood, and a red
track was left behind him as he went forth from the hall.





CHAPTER XXIII

THE RED HAND




Resting at length from desire and intrigue, Marcian lay cold upon
the bed where he had passed his haunted nights. About his corpse
were gathered all the servants of the house; men, with anger on
their brows, muttering together, and women wailing low because of
fear. The girl who had met the horsemen by the bridge told her
story, whence it became evident that Marcian's death was the result
of private quarrel; but some of the slaves declared that this armed
company came in advance of the Gothic host; and presently the loss
of their master was all but forgotten in anxiety as to their own
fate at the hands of the Emperor.

This talk was interrupted by the approach of Basil's men, who came
to seek a meal for themselves and forage for their horses. Having no
choice but to obey, the servants went about the work required of
them. A quiet fell upon the house. The strangers talked little, and,
when they spoke, subdued their voices. In still chambers and
corridors was heard now and then a sound of weeping.

Basil, though he had given orders for departure as soon as the meal
was done, knew not whither his journey should be directed. A
paralysis of thought and will kept him pacing alone in the
courtyard; food he could not touch; of repose he was incapable; and
though he constantly lifted up his bloodstained hand, to gaze at it
as if in bewildered horror, he did not even think of washing the
blood away. At moments he lost consciousness of what he had done,
his mind straying to things remote; then the present came back upon
him with a shock, seeming, however, to strike on numbed senses, so
that he had to say to himself, 'I have slain Marcian,' before he
could fully understand his suffering.

Veranilda was now scarce present to his mind at all. Something
vaguely outlined hovered in the background; something he durst not
look at or think about; the sole thing in the world that had reality
for him was the image of Marcian--stabbed, shrieking, falling,
dead. Every minute was the fearful scene re-enacted. More than once
he checked himself in his walk, seeming to be about to step on
Marcian's body.

At length, seeing a shadow draw near, he raised his eyes and beheld
Gaudiosus. He tried to speak, but found that his tongue clave to the
roof of his mouth. Automatically he crossed himself, then caught the
priest's hand, and knelt and kissed it.

'Rise, my son,' said Gaudiosus, 'for I would talk with you.'

On one side of the courtyard was a portico with seats, and thither
the old man led.

'Unless,' he began gravely, 'unless the author of all falsehood--
who is so powerful over women--has entered into this maiden to
baffle and mislead me utterly, I feel assured that she is chaste;
not merely unsullied in the flesh, but as pure of heart as her
fallen nature may permit a woman to be.'

Basil gazed at him darkly.

'My father, how can you believe it? Did you not hear her lament
because the man was dead? It is indeed the devil that beguiles you.'

Gaudiosus bent his head, and pondered anxiously.

'Tell me,' he said at length, 'all her story, that I may compare it
with what I have heard from her own lips.'

Slowly at first, and confusedly, with hesitations, repetitions, long
pauses, Basil recited the history of Veranilda, so far as he knew
it. The priest listened and nodded, and when silence came, continued
the narrative. If Veranilda spoke truth she had never seen Marcian
until he took her from the convent at Praeneste. Moreover, Marcian
had never uttered to her a word of love; in his house she had lived
as chastely as among the holy sisters.

'What did she here, then?' asked Basil bitterly. 'Why did he bring
her here? You know, O father, that it was not in fulfilment of his
promise to me, for you heard his shameless lie when I questioned
him.'

'He told her,' replied the priest, 'that she sojourned here only
until he could put her under the protection of the Gothic King.'

'Of Totila?' cried Basil. 'Nay, for all I know, he may have thought
of that--his passion being appeased.'

Even as he spoke be remembered Sagaris and the letter written in
Gothic. Some motive of interest might, indeed, have prompted Marcian
to this step. None the less was he Veranilda's lover. Would he
otherwise have kept her here with him, alone, and not rather have
continued the journey, with all speed, till he reached Totila's
camp?

'When I left her,' pursued Gaudiosus, whose confidence in his own
judgment was already shaken by the young man's vehemence, 'I spoke
in private with certain of the bondswomen, who declared to me that
they could avouch the maiden's innocence since her coming hither--
until to-day's sunrise.'

Basil laughed with scorn.

'Until to-day's sunrise? And pray, good father, what befell her at
that moment? What whisper the Argus-eyed bondswomen?'

'They tell me,' replied the priest, 'that she went forth and met
Marcian, and walked with him in a wood, her own woman having been
sent back to the villa. This troubled me; but her voice, her
countenance--'

'Helped by the devil,' broke in Basil. 'Reverend man, do not seek to
deceive yourself, or to solace me with a vain hope. I pray you, did
Marcian, when you came to visit him, speak of a lady whose virtue he
was sworn to guard? Plainly, not a word fell from him. Yet assuredly
he would have spoken had things been as you pretend.'

Gaudiosus, bent double, a hand propping his white-bearded chin,
mused for a little with sadded air.

'Lord Basil,' he resumed at length, 'somewhat more have I to say to
you. I live far from the world, and hear little of its rumour. Until
this day your name was unknown to me, and of good concerning you I
have to this hour heard nothing save from your own lips. May I
credit this report you make of yourself? Or should I rather believe
what Marcian, in brief words, declared to me when he heard that you
were at his gate?'

The speaker paused, as if to collect courage.

'He spoke ill of me?' asked Basil.

'He spoke much ill. He accused you of disloyalty in friendship,
saying that he had but newly learnt how you had deceived him. More
than this he had not time to tell.'

Basil looked into the old man's rheumy eyes.

'You do well to utter this, good father. Tell me one thing more.
Yonder maiden, does she breathe the same charge against me?'

'Not so,' replied Gaudiosus. 'Of you she said no evil.'

'Yet I scarce think'--he smiled coldly--'that she made
profession of love for me?'

'My son, her speech was maidenly. She spoke of herself as erstwhile
your betrothed; no more than that.'

As he uttered these words, the priest rose. He had an uneasy look,
as if he feared that infirmity of will and fondness for gossip had
betrayed him into some neglect of spiritual obligation.

'It is better,' he said, 'that we should converse no more. I know
not what your purposes may be, nor do they concern me I remain here
to pray by the dead, and I shall despatch a messenger to my brother
presbyter, that we may prepare for the burial. Remember,' he raised
his head, and his voice struck a deeper note, 'that the guilt of
blood is upon you, and that no plea of earthly passion will avail
before the Almighty Judge. Behold your hand--even so, but far more
deeply have you stained your soul.'

Basil scarce heard. Numbness had crept over him again; he stared at
the doorway by which the priest re-entered the house, and only after
some minutes recalled enough of the old man's last words to look
upon his defiled hand. Then he called aloud, summoning any slave who
might hear him, and when the doorkeeper came timidly from a recess
where he had been skulking, bade him bring water. Having cleansed
himself, he walked by an outer way to the rear of the villa; for he
durst not pass through the atrium.

Here his men were busy over their meal, sitting or sprawling in a
shadowed place, the slaves waiting upon them. With a reminder that
they must hold themselves ready to ride at any moment, he passed on
through a large, wild garden, and at length, where a grove of
box-trees surrounded the ruins of a little summer-house, cast
himself to the ground.

His breast heaved, his eyes swelled and smarted, but he could not
shed tears. Face downwards, like a man who bites the earth in his
last agony, he lay quivering. So did an hour or more pass by.

He was roused by the voices of his men, who were searching and
calling for him. With an effort, he rose to his feet, and stepped
out into the sunshine, when he learnt that a troop of soldiers had
just ridden up to the villa, and that their captain, who had already
entered, was asking for him by name. Careless what might await him,
Basil followed the men as far as the inner court, and there stood
Venantius.

'I surprise you,' cried out the genial voice with a cheery laugh.
You had five hours start of me. Pray, dear lord, when did you get
here?'

Basil could make no reply, and the other, closely observing his
strange countenance, went on to explain that, scarcely started from
Aesernia on his way to the king, Marcian's messenger had met with
Totila himself, who was nearer than had been thought. After reading
the letter, Totila had come on rapidly to Aesernia, and had
forthwith despatched Venantius to the villa by Arpinum.

'You guess my mission, lord Basil,' he pursued, with bluff
good-humour. 'Dullard that I was, the talk of a fair lady travelling
in Marcian's charge never brought to my mind that old story of
Surrentum. Here is our royal Totila all eagerness to see this
maiden--if maiden still she be. What say you on that point, dear lord?
Nay, look not so fiercely at me. I am not here to call any one to
account, but only to see that the Gothic beauty comes safe to
Aesernia as soon as may be.'

'You will find her within,' muttered Basil.

'And Marcian? I might have thought I came inopportunely to this
dwelling, but that he himself wrote to the king that the lady was
here.'

'You are assured of that?' Basil asked, under his breath.

'I have Totila's word for it, at all events. But you seem indisposed
for talk, lord Basil, and my business is with Marcian. The slaves
all look scared, and can't or won't answer a plain question. I have
no time to waste. Tell me, I pray you, where the lord of the villa
may be found.'

Basil summoned one of his followers.

'Conduct the lord Venantius to Marcian's chamber.'

It was done. Basil remained standing in the same spot, his eyes cast
down, till a quick step announced the captain's return. Venantius
came close up to him, and spoke in a grave but not unfriendly voice:

'The priest has told me what he saw, but will not say more. I ask
you nothing, lord Basil. You will make your defence to the king.'

'Be it so.'

'My men must rest for an hour,' continued Venantius. 'We shall ride
this afternoon as far as Aquinum, and there pass the night. I go now
to speak with Veranilda.'

'As you will.'

Basil withdrew into the portico, sat down, and covered his face with
his hands. Fever consumed him, and a dreadful melancholy weighed
upon his spirit. At a respectful distance from him, his followers
had assembled, ready for departure. The soldiers who had come with
Venantius, a score in number, were eating and drinking outside the
gates. Within, all was quiet. Half an hour elapsed, and Venantius
again came forward. Seeing Basil in the shadow of the portico, he
went and sat beside him, and began to speak with rough but
well-meaning solace. Why this heaviness? If he surmised aright,
Basil had but avenged himself as any man would have done. For his
own part, he had never thought enough of any woman to kill a man on
her account; but such little troubles were of everyday occurrence,
and must not be taken too much to heart. He had seen this Gothic
damsel of whom there had been so much rumour, and, by Diana I (if
the oath were not inappropriate) her face deserved all that was said
of it. His rival being out of the way, why should not Basil pluck up
cheer? Totila would not deal harshly in such a matter as this, and
more likely than not he would be disposed to give the maiden to a
Roman of noble race, his great desire being to win all Romans by
generosity.

'Yonder priest tells me,' he added, 'that you were over hasty; that
you struck on a mere suspicion. And methinks he may be right. By the
Holy Cross, I could well believe this maiden a maiden in very deed.
I never looked upon a purer brow, an eye that spoke more innocently.
Hark ye, my good Basil, I am told that you have not spoken with her.
If you would fain do so before we set forth, I will be no hinderer.
Go, if you will, into yonder room'--he pointed to a door near by--'
and when she descends (I have but to call), you shall see her
undisturbed.'

For a moment Basil sat motionless; then, without a word, he rose and
went whither Venantius directed him. But a few minutes passed before
he saw Veranilda enter. She was clad for travel, a veil over her
face; this, and the shadow in which Basil stood, made her at first
unaware of his presence, for Venantius had only requested her to
enter this room until the carriage was ready. Standing with bowed
head, she sobbed.

'Why do you weep?' demanded an abrupt voice, which made her draw
back trembling.

Basil moved a little towards her.

'You weep for _him_?' he added in the same pitiless tone.

'For him, for you, and for myself, alas! alas!'

The subdued anguish of her voice did not touch Basil. He burned with
hatred of her and of the dead man.

'Shed no tears for me. I am cured of a long folly. And for you
consolation will not be slow in coming. Who knows but you may throw
your spell upon Totila himself.'

'You know not what you say,' replied Veranilda; not, as when she
used the words before, in accents quivering from a stricken heart,
but with sorrowful dignity and self-command. 'Is it Basil who speaks
thus? Were it only the wrong done me that I had to bear, I could
keep silence, waiting until God restored your justice and your
gentleness. But, though in nothing blameworthy, I am the cause of
what has come about; for had I not entered that room when I did, you
would not have struck the fatal blow. Listen then, O Basil, whilst I
make known to you what happened before you came.'

She paused to control herself.

'I must go back to the night when I left the convent. No one had
told me I was to go away. In the middle of the night I was aroused
and led forth, with me the woman who served me. We had travelled an
hour or two, perhaps, when some one standing by the carriage spoke
to me, some one who said he was Marcian the friend of Basil, and
bade me have no fears, for Basil awaited me at the end of the
journey. The next day he spoke to me again, this time face to face,
but only a few words. We came to this villa. You have been told, by
I know not whom, that I was light of heart. It is true, for I
believed what Marcian had said to me, and nothing had befallen to
disturb my gladness. I lived with my serving woman privately, in
quiet and hope. This morning, yielding, alas! to a wish which I
thought harmless, I went forth with my attendant to the waterfall.
As I stood gazing at it, the lord Marcian came forth on horseback.
He alighted to speak with me, and presently asked if I would go to
see another fall of the river, across the island. I consented. As we
went, he dismissed my servant, and I did not know what he had done
(thinking she still followed), until, when we were in a wood at the
water's edge, I could no longer see the woman, and Marcian told me
he had bidden her go to fetch seats for us. Then he began to speak,
and what he said, how shall I tell you?'

There was another brief silence. Basil did not stir; his eyes were
bent sternly upon the veiled visage.

'Was it evil in his heart that shaped such words? Or had he been
deceived by some other? He said that Basil had forgotten me; that
Basil loved, and would soon wed, a lady in Rome. More than that, he
said that Basil was plotting to get me into his power, his purpose
being to deliver me to the Greeks, who would take me to
Constantinople. But Marcian, so he declared, had rescued me in time,
and I was to be guarded by the King of the Goths.'

The listener moved, raising his arm and letting it fall again. But
he breathed no word.

'This did he tell me,' she added. 'I went back to the villa to my
chamber. I sat thinking, I know not how long; I know not how long.
Then, unable to remain any longer alone, driven by my dreadful
doubt, I came forth to seek Marcian. I descended the stairs to the
atrium. You saw me--alas! alas!'

Basil drew nearer to her.

'He had spoken no word of love?'

'No word. I had no fear of _that_.'

'Why, then, did he frame these lies, these hellish lies?'

'Alas!' cried Veranilda, clasping her hands above her head. 'Did he
still live, the truth might be discovered. His first words to me, in
the night when he stood beside the carriage, sounded so kind and
true; he named himself the friend of Basil, said that Basil awaited
me at the journey's end. How could he speak so, if he indeed then
thought you what he afterwards said? Oh, were he alive, to stand
face to face with me again!'

'It is not enough,' asked Basil harshly, 'that I tell you he lied?'

She did not on the instant reply, and he, possessed with unreasoning
bitterness, talked wildly on.

'No! You believed him, and believe him still. I can well fancy that
he spoke honestly at first; but when he had looked into your face,
when he had talked with you, something tempted him to villainy. Go!
Your tears and your lamentations betray you. It is not of me that
you think, but of him, him, only him! "Oh, were he alive!" Ay, keep
your face bidden; you know too well it could not bear my eyes upon
it.'

Veranilda threw back the long veil, and stood looking at him.

'Eyes red with weeping,' he exclaimed, 'and for whom? If you were
true to me, would you not rejoice that I had slain my enemy? You say
you were joyful in the thought of seeing me again? You see me--and
with what countenance?'

'I see not Basil,' she murmured, her hands upon her breast.

'You see a false lover, an ignoble traitor--the Basil shown you by
Marcian. What would it avail me to speak in my own defence? His
voice is in your ears, its lightest tone outweighing my most solemn
oath. "Oh, that he were alive!" That is all you find to say to me.'

'I know you not,' sobbed Veranilda. 'Alas, I know you not!'

'Nor I you. I dreamt of a Veranilda who loved so purely and so
constantly that not a thousand slanderers could have touched her
heart with a shadow of mistrust. But who are you--you whom the
first gross lie of a man lusting for your beauty utterly estranges
from your faith? Who are you--who wail for the liar's death, and
shrink in horror from the hand that slew him? I ever heard that the
daughters of the Goths were chaste and true and fearless. So they
may be--all but one, whose birth marked her for faithlessness.'

As though smitten by a brutal blow, Veranilda bowed her head,
shuddering. Once more she looked at Basil, for an instant, with wide
eyes of fear; then hid herself beneath the veil, and was gone.





CHAPTER XXIV

THE MOUNT OF THE MONK




Basil rode with his own man apart from Venantius and the soldiers
who guarded the conveyance in which sat Veranilda. Venantius, for
his part, would fain have lightened the way with friendly talk, but
finding Basil irresponsive, he left him to his gloomy meditations.
And so they came to Aquinum, where they passed the night.

By way of precaution, the captain set a guard before the house in
which his fellow-traveller slept, and at daybreak, as soon as he had
risen, one of the soldiers thus employed reported to him that the
young Roman had fallen into such distemper that it seemed doubtful
whether he could continue the journey; a servant who had slept at
Basil's door declared that all through the night his master had
talked wildly, like one fever-frenzied. Venantius visited the sick
man, and found him risen, but plainly in poor case for travel.

'Why, you will never mount your horse,' he opined, after touching
Basil's hand, and finding it on fire. 'This is what comes of a
queasy conscience. Take heart, man! Are you the first that stuck a
false friend between the ribs, or the first to have your love kissed
against her will? That it _was_ against her will, I take upon myself
to swear. You are too fretful, my good lord. Come, now! What are we
to do with you?'

'I can ride on,' answered Basil. 'Pay no heed to me, and leave me in
peace, I pray you.'

He was helped to horseback, and the cavalcade went forth again along
the Latin Way. This morning, no beam of sunrise shone above the
mountains; the heavens were sullen, and a hot wind blew from the
south. Even Venantius, though he hummed a song to himself, felt the
sombre influence of the air, and kept glancing uneasily backwards at
the death-pale man, who rode with head upon his breast. Scarcely had
they ridden for an hour at foot-pace, when a shout caught the
captain's ear; he turned, just in time to see Basil dropping to the
ground.

'God's thunder!' he growled. 'I have been expecting this. Well if he
dies, it may save the king some trouble.'

He jumped down, and went to Basil's side. At first the sufferer
could not speak, but when water had been given him, he gazed at
Venantius with a strange smile, and, pointing before him, said
faintly:

'Is not yonder Casinum?'

'It is. We will bear you thither for harbourage. Courage, friend!'

'Above, on the mountain,' continued Basil painfully, 'dwells my
kinsman Benedict, with his holy men. Could I but reach the
monastery!'

'Why, perchance you may,' replied the captain. 'And in truth you
would be better cared for there.'

'Help me, good Venantius!' panted Basil, with eyes of entreaty. 'Let
me die in the monastery.'

In those days of pestilence, every fever-stricken person was an
object of dread to all but the most loving or the most courageous.
The stalwart Venantius thought for a moment of carrying Basil before
him on his horse, but prudence overcame this humane impulse. Into
the carriage, for the same reason (had there been no other), he
could not be put; but there was a vacant place beside the driver,
and here, supported with cords, he managed to keep his seat until
they arrived at Casinum.

Owing to its position on the highroad, trodden by so many barbaric
armies, this city had suffered repeated devastation. Its great
buildings stood desolate, or had fallen to utter ruin, and the
country around, once famous for its fertility, showed but a few poor
farms. What inhabitants remained dwelt at the foot of the great hill
on whose summit rose the citadel, still united with the town by two
great walls. After passing between the tombs on the Latin Way,
memorials of citizens long dead, the travellers entered by an
unprotected gateway, and here Venantius called a halt. Wishing to
make no longer pause than was needful to put the sick man in safety,
he despatched a few soldiers through the silent town to seek for
means of conveying Basil up to the monastery on the height. By good
luck these emissaries came upon a couple of monks, who lost no time
in arranging for the conveyance of the sufferer. A light cart drawn
by two mules speedily appeared, and on this Basil was laid. One only
of his men did Venantius allow to accompany him, the others were
bidden ride on with the captain's own soldiers to Aesernia.

'There you will find us all when you are on your legs again,' said
Venantius, 'unless by that time we have marched Romewards, in which
case you shall have a message. Trust me to look after all you left
there; I answer for its safety and for that of your good fellows.
Keep up heart, and God make you sound.'

Basil, couched on a bed of dry leaves, raised himself so as to watch
the troop as it rode forth again from the ruined gate. Whether she
who sat hidden within the carriage had heard of his evil plight he
knew not, and could not have brought himself to ask. The last of his
own horsemen (some of whom had taken leave of him with tears) having
vanished from sight, he fell back, and for a while knew nothing but
the burning torment in his brain.

The ascent of the mountain began. It was a rough, narrow road,
winding through a thick forest of oak and beech trees, here and
there so steep as to try the firm footing of the mules, and in
places dangerous because of broken ground on the edge of precipitous
declivities. The cart was driven by its owner, a peasant of Casinum,
who at times sat sideways on one of the beasts, at times walked by
them; behind came the two religious men, cowled, bare-footed; and
last Basil's attendant on horseback.

From Venantius the monks had learned who their charge was. His noble
origin, and still more the fact of his kindred with their beloved
Abbot Benedict, inspired in them a special interest. They spoke of
him in whispers together, compassionated his sufferings, remarked on
the comeliness of his features, and assured each other that they
detected in him no symptom of the plague. It being now the third
hour, they ceased from worldly talk and together recited their
office, whereto the peasant and the horseman gave pious ear.

Basil lay with closed eyes, but at a certain moment he seemed to
become aware of what was passing, crossed himself, and then folded
his hands upon his breast in the attitude of prayer. Having observed
this, one of the monks, his orisons finished, went up to the cart
and spoke comfortable words. He was a man in the prime of life, with
cheek as fresh as a maid's, and a step that seemed incapable of
weariness; his voice sounded a note of gentle kindness which caused
the sufferer to smile at him in gratitude.

'This tree,' he said presently, pointing to a noble beech, its bole
engraven with a cross, 'marks the middle point of the ascent. A
weary climb for the weak, but not without profit to him who thinks
as he walks--for, as our dear brother Marcus has said, in those
verses we are never tired of repeating:--

"Semper difficili quaeruntur summa labore,
Arctam semper habet vita beata viam."'

The other monk, an older man, who walked less vigorously, echoed the
couplet with slow emphasis, as if savouring every word. Then both
together, bowing their cowled heads, exclaimed fervently:

'Thanks be to God for the precious gifts of our brother Marcus!'

Basil endeavoured to utter a few words, but he was now so feeble
that he could scarce make his voice heard above the creak of the
wheels. Again he closed his eyes, and his companions pursued their
way in silence. When at length they issued from the forest they
overlooked a vast landscape of hill and valley, with heads of
greater mountains high above them. Here rose the walls of the
citadel, within which Benedict had built his monastery. For some
distance around these ancient ramparts the ground was tilled, and
flourishing with various crops. At the closed gateway of the old
Arx, flanked by a tower, the monks rang, and were at once admitted
into the courtyard, where, in a few moments, the prior and all his
brethren came forward to greet the strangers. Because of Basil's
condition the ceremony usual on such arrivals was in his case
curtailed: the prior uttered a brief prayer, gave the kiss of peace,
and ordered forthwith the removal of the sick man to a
guest-chamber, where he was laid in bed and ministered to by the
brother Marcus, whose gifts as a healer were not less notable than
his skill in poesy. The horseman, meanwhile, as custom was with all
visitors, had been led to the oratory to hear a passage of Holy
Scripture; after which the prior poured water upon his hands, and
certain of the monks washed his feet.

Before sunset Basil lost consciousness of present things; and many
days went by before he again spoke as a sane man. When at length the
fever declined, and his head turned upon the pillow in search of a
human countenance, he saw standing beside him a venerable figure in
the monastic garb, whose visage, though wrinkled with age and
thought, had such noble vividness in its look, and wore a smile so
like that of youth in its half-playful sweetness, that Basil could
but gaze wonderingly, awestruck at once, and charmed by this
unexpected apparition.

'My son,' sounded in a voice grave and tender, 'be your first
syllables uttered to Him by whose omnipotent will you are restored
to the life of this world.'

With the obedience of a child he clasped his thin hands, and
murmured the prayer of childhood. Then the gracious figure bent over
him. He felt the touch of lips upon his forehead, and in the same
moment fell asleep.

It was night when he again woke. A little lamp revealed bare walls
of stone, a low, timbered ceiling, a floor of red tiles. Basil's
eyes, as soon as they were open, looked for the venerable figure
which he remembered. Finding no one, he thought the memory was but
of a dream. Feeling wonderfully at ease in body and calm in mind, he
lay musing on that vision of the noble countenance, doubting after
all whether a dream could have left so distinct an impression, when
all at once there fell upon his ear a far sound of chanting, a
harmony so sweetly solemn that it melted his heart and filled his
eyes with tears. Not long after, when all was silent again, he heard
the sound of soft footsteps without, and in the same moment the door
of his cell opened. The face which looked in seemed not quite
unknown to him, though he could not recall where he had seen it.

'You have slept long, dear brother,' said Marcus, with a happy
smile. 'Is all well with you?'

'Well, God he thanked,' was the clear but faint reply.

The poet-physician, a small, nervous, bright-eyed man of some forty
years, sat down on a stool by the bedside and began talking
cheerfully. He had just come from matins, and was this morning
excused from lauds because it behoved him to gather certain herbs,
to be used medicinally in the case of a brother who had fallen sick
yesterday. Touching a little gold locket which Basil wore round his
neck on a gold thread he asked what this contained, and being told
that it was a morsel of the Crown of Thorns, he nodded with
satisfaction.

'We questioned whether to leave it on you or not, for we could not
open it, and there was a fear lest it might contain something'--he
smiled and shook his bead and sighed--'much less sacred. The lord
abbot, doubtless'--here his voice sank--'after a vision, though
of this he spoke not, decided that it should be left. There was no
harm, for all that'--his eyes twinked merrily--'in tying this
upon the place where you suffered so grievously.'

From amid Basil's long hair he detached what looked like a tiny
skein of hemp, which, with an air singularly blended of shrewdness
and reverence, he declared to be a portion of a garb of penitence
worn by the Holy Martin, to whom the oratory here was dedicated.
Presently Basil found strength to ask whether the abbot had been
beside him.

'Many times,' was the answer. 'The last, no longer ago than
yestereve, ere he went to compline. You would have seen him on the
day of your arrival, ere yet you became distraught, but that a
heaviness lay upon him because of the loss of a precious manuscript
on its way hither from Rome--a manuscript which had been procured
for him after much searching, only to be lost by the folly of one to
whom it was intrusted; if, indeed, it was not rather whisked away by
the Evil One, who, powerless for graver ill against our holy father,
at times seeks to discomfort him by small practice of spite. Sorrow
for this loss brought on a distemper to which his age is subject.'

Reminded all at once that he had no time to lose, Marcus threw open
the shutter, extinguished the lamp, and slipped away, leaving his
patient with eyes turned to the pale glimmer of dawn at the tiny
window. Now only did there stir in Basil clear recollection of the
events which had preceded his coming hither. Marcus's sly word in
regard to the locket had awakened his mind, and in a few moments he
thought connectedly. But without emotion, unless it were a vague,
tender sadness. All seemed to have happened so long ago. It was like
a story he had heard in days gone by. He thought of it until his
brain began to weary, then again came sleep.

A day or two passed. He had begun to eat with keen appetite, and his
strength increased hour by hour. On a Sunday, after the office of
the third hour, Marcus cheerily gave him permission to rise. This
prompted Basil to inquire whether his man, who had come with him,
was still in the monastery. Marcus, with eyes averted, gave a nod.
Might he speak with him, Basil asked. Presently, presently, was the
answer. Marcus himself aided the convalescent to dress; then having
seated him in a great chair of rude wickerwork, used only on
occasions such as this, left him to bask in a beam of sunshine.
Before long, his meal was brought him, and with it a book, bound in
polished wood and metal, which he found to be a Psalter. Herein,
when he had eaten, he read for an hour or so, not, however, without
much wandering of the thoughts. He had fallen into reverie, when his
door opened, and there appeared before him the Abbot Benedict.

Basil started up, stood for a moment in agitation, then sank upon
his knees, with head reverently bowed.

'Rise, rise, my son,' spoke the voice which had so moved him in his
vision of a week ago, a voice subdued by years, but perfectly steady
and distinct. 'Our good brother Marcus assures me that I may talk
with you a little while without fear of overtasking your strength--
nay, sit where you were, I pray you. Thanks be to God, I need not
support for my back.'

So saying, the abbot seated himself on the stool, and gazed at Basil
with a smile of infinite benevolence.

'Your face,' he continued, 'speaks to me of a time very far away. I
see in it the presentment of your father's father, with whom, when
he was much of your age, I often talked. His mother had a villa at
Nursia, the home of my youth. Once he turned aside from a journey to
visit me when I dwelt at Sublaqueum.'

The reminiscence checked his tongue he kept silence for a moment,
musing gravely.

'But these are old stories, my Basil, and you are young. Tell me
somewhat of your parents, and of your own life. Did not your good
father pass away whilst at Constantinople?'

Thus, with perfect simplicity, with kindliest interest in things
human, did Benedict draw the young man into converse. He put no
question that touched on the inner life, and Basil uttered not a
word concerning his late distress, but they touched for a moment
upon public affairs, and Basil learnt, without show of special
interest, that Totila still lingered in Campania.

'Your follower, Deodatus,' said the abbot presently, 'begs each day
for permission to see you. The good fellow has not lived in
idleness; he is a brave worker in wood, and by chance we much needed
one of his craft. Not many things of this world give me more
pleasure than to watch a cunning craftsman as he smooths timber, and
fits the pieces together, and makes of them something that shall
serve the needs of men. Is it not, in some sort, to imitate the
great Artificer? Would, O Basil, that our country had more makers
and fewer who live but to destroy.'

'Would it were so, indeed!' sighed Basil, in a low, fervent voice.

'But the end is not yet,' pursued Benedict, his eyes gazing straight
before him, as if they beheld the future. 'Men shall pray for peace,
but it will not be granted them, so great are the iniquities of the
world which utters the name of Christ, yet knows Him not.'

He paused with troubled brow. Then, as if reminding himself that his
hearer had need of more encouraging words, he said cheerfully:

'To-morrow, perchance, you will have strength to leave your room.
Deodatus shall come to you in the morning. When you can walk so far,
I will pray you to visit me in my tower. You knew not that I inhabit
a tower? Even as the watchman who keeps guard over a city. And,' he
added more gravely, as if to himself rather than to the listener,
'God grant that my watch be found faithful.'

Thereupon the abbot rose, and gently took his leave; and Basil,
through all the rest of the day, thought of him and of every word he
had uttered.

Not long after sunrise on the morrow, Deodatus was allowed to enter.
This man, whose age was something more than thirty, was the son of a
serf on Basil's land, and being of very peaceful disposition, had
with some reluctance answered the summons to arm himself and follow
his lord to the wars. Life in the monastery thoroughly suited his
temper; when Basil encouraged him to talk, he gave a delighted
account of the way in which his days were spent; spoke with simple
joy of the many religious services he attended, and had no words in
which to express his devotion to the abbot.

'Why, Deodatus,' exclaimed his master, smiling, 'you lack but the
cowl to be a very monk.'

'My duty is to my lord,' answered the man, bending his head.

'Tell me now whether any news has reached you, in all this time, of
those from whom my sickness parted us.'

But Deodatus had heard nothing of his fellows, and nothing of
Venantius.

'It may be,' said Basil, 'that I shall send you to tell them how I
fare, and to bring back tidings. Your horse is at hand?'

As he spoke he detected a sadness on the man's countenance. Without
more words, he dismissed him.

That day he sat in the open air, in a gallery whence he could survey
a great part of the monastic buildings, and much of the mountain
summit on its western side. For an hour he had the companionship of
Marcus, who, pointing to this spot and to that, instructed Basil in
the history of what he saw, now and then reciting his own verses on
the subject. He told how Benedict, seeking with a little company of
pious followers for a retreat from the evil of the world, came to
ruined Casinum, and found its few wretched inhabitants fallen away
from Christ, worshipping the old gods in groves and high places.
Here, on the mountain top, stood temples of Jupiter, of Apollo, and
of Venus. The house of Apollo he purified for Christian service, and
set under the invocation of the Holy Martin. The other temples he
laid low, and having cut down the grove sacred to Apollo, on that
spot he raised an oratory in the name of the Baptist. Not without
much spiritual strife was all this achieved; for--the good Marcus
subdued his voice--Satan himself more than once overthrew what the
monks had built, and, together with the demons whom Benedict had
driven forth, often assailed the holy band with terrors and
torments. Had not the narrator, who gently boasted a part in these
beginnings, been once all but killed by a falling column, which
indeed must have crushed him, but that he stretched out a hand in
which, by happy chance, he was holding a hammer, and this--for a
hammer is cruciform--touching the great pillar, turned its fall in
another direction. Where stood the temple of Venus was now a
vineyard, yielding excellent wine.

'Whereof, surely, you must not drink?' interposed Basil, with a
smile.

'Therein, good brother,' replied Marcus, 'you show but little
knowledge of our dear lord abbot. He indeed abstains from wine, for
such has been the habit of his life, but to us he permits it, for
the stomach's sake; being of opinion that labour is a form of
worship, and well understanding that labour, whether of body or of
mind, can only be performed by one in health. This very day you
shall taste of our vintage, which I have hitherto withheld from you,
lest it should overheat your languid blood.'

Many other questions did Basil ask concerning the rule of the
monastery. He learned that the day was equitably portioned out
(worship apart) between manual and mental work. During summer, the
cooler hours of morning and afternoon were spent in the field, and
the middle of the day in study; winter saw this order reversed. On
Sunday the monks laboured not with their hands, and thought only of
the Word of God. The hours of the divine office suffered, of course,
no change all the year round: their number in the daytime was
dictated by that verse of the Psalmist: 'Septies in die laudem dixi
tibi'; therefore did the community assemble at lauds, at prime, at
the third hour, at mid-day, at the ninth hour, at vespers, and at
compline. They arose, moreover, for prayer at midnight, and for
matins before dawn. On all this the hearer mused when he was left
alone, and with his musing blended a sense of peace such as had
never before entered into his heart.

He had returned to his chamber, and was reposing on the bed, when
there entered one of the two monks by whom he was conveyed up the
mountain. With happy face, this visitor presented to him a new
volume, which, he declared with modest pride, was from beginning to
end the work of his own hand.

'But an hour ago I finished the binding,' he added, stroking the
calf-skin affectionately. 'And when I laid it before the venerable
father, who is always indulgent to those who do their best, he was
pleased to speak kind things. "Take it to our noble guest," he said,
"that he may see how we use the hours God grants us. And it may be
that he would like to read therein."'

The book was a beautiful copy of Augustine's _De Civitate Dei_.
Basil did indeed peruse a page or two, but again his thoughts began
to wander. He turned the leaves, looking with pleasure at the fine
initial letters in red ink. They reminded him of his cousin Decius,
whom a noble manuscript would transport with joy. And thought of
Decius took him back to Surrentum. He fell into a dream.

On the morrow, at noon, he was well enough to descend to the
refectory, where he had a seat at the abbot's table. His meal
consisted of a roast pigeon, a plate of vegetables, honey and
grapes, with bread which seemed to him better than he had ever
tasted, and wine whereof his still weak head bade him partake very
modestly. The abbot's dinner, he saw, was much simpler: a bowl of
milk, a slice of bread, and a couple of figs. After the kindly
greeting with which he was received, there was no conversation, for
a monk read aloud during the repast. Basil surveyed with interest
the assembly before him. Most of the faces glowed with health, and
on all was manifest a simple contentment such as he had hitherto
seen only in the eyes of children. Representatives were here of
every social rank, but the majority belonged to honourable families:
high intelligence marked many countenances, but not one showed the
shadow of anxious or weary thought.

These are men, said Basil to himself, who either have never known
the burden of life, or have utterly cast it off; they live without a
care, without a passion. And then there suddenly flashed upon his
mind what seemed an all-sufficient explanation of this calm, this
happiness. Here entered no woman. Woman's existence was forgotten,
alike by young and old; or, if not forgotten, had lost all its
earthly taint, as in the holy affection (of which Marcus had spoken
to him) cherished by the abbot for his pious sister Scholastica.
Here, he clearly saw, was the supreme triumph of the religious life.
But, instead of quieting, the thought disturbed him. He went away
thinking thoughts which he would fain have kept at a distance.

The ninth hour found him in the oratory, and later he attended
vespers, at which office the monks sang an evening hymn of the holy
Ambrosius:--

'O lux, beata Trinitas, et principalis Uuitas,
Jam sol recedit igneus; infunde lumen cordibus.

Te mane laudum carmine, te deprecemur vesperi,
Te nostra supplex gloria per cuncta laudet saecula.'

The long sweet notes lingered in Basil's mind when he lay down to
rest. And, as he crossed himself before sleeping, the only prayer he
breathed was: '_Infunde lumen cordi meo_.'





CHAPTER XXV

THE ABBOT'S TOWER




On the morrow he rose earlier, talking the while with his servant
Deodatus. This good fellow continued to exhibit so deep an affection
for the life of the monastery that Basil was at length moved to ask
him whether, if he had the choice, he would veritably become a monk.
Deodatus looked at his master with eyes of pathetic earnestness,
tried in vain to speak, and burst into tears. Instructed by a
vocation so manifest, Basil began to read more clearly in his own
heart, where, in spite of the sorrows he had borne and of the
troublous uncertainties that lay before him, he found no such
readiness to quit the world. He could approve the wisdom of those
who renounced the flesh, to be rewarded with tranquillity on earth
and eternal happiness hereafter; but his will did not ally itself
with his intellect. Moreover, was it certain, he asked himself, that
all who embraced the religious life were so rewarded? In turning the
pages of Augustine's work, he had come upon a passage which arrested
his eye and perturbed his thought, a passage which seemed clearly to
intimate that the soul's eternal destiny had from the beginning of
things been decided by God, some men being created for bliss, more
for damnation. Basil did not dwell profoundly on this doubt; his
nature inclined not at all to theological scrutiny, nor to spiritual
brooding; but it helped to revive in him the energies which sickness
had abated, and to throw him back on that simple faith, that
Christianity of everyday, in which he had grown up.

Going forth in the mellow sunshine, he turned his steps to a garden
of vegetables where he saw monks at work. They gave him gentle
greeting, and one, he who had brought the volume yesterday,
announced that the abbot invited Basil to visit him after the office
of the third hour. Thereupon all worked in silence, he watching
them.

When the time came, he was conducted to the abbot's dwelling, which
was the tower beside the ancient gateway of the Arx. It contained
but two rooms, one above the other; below, the founder of the
monastery studied and transacted business; in the upper chamber he
prayed and slept. When, in reply to his knock at the study door, the
voice, now familiar, but for that no less impressive, bade him come
forward, Basil felt his heart beat quickly; and when he stood alone
in that venerable presence, all his new-born self-confidence fell
away from him. Beholding the aged man seated at a table on which lay
books, amid perfect stillness, in the light from a large window;
before him a golden cross, and, on either side of it, a bowl of
sweet-scented flowers; he seemed only now to remember that this was
that Benedict whose fame had gone forth into many lands, whose
holiness already numbered him with the blessed saints rather than
with mortal men, of whom were recounted things miraculous. Looking
upon that face, which time touched only to enhance its calm, only to
make yet purer its sweet humanity, he felt himself an idle and
wanton child, and his entrance hither a profanation.

'Come and sit by me, son Basil,' said the abbot. 'I am at leisure,
and shall be glad to hear you speak of many things. Tell me first,
do you love reading?'

Basil answered with simple truth, that of late years he had scarce
read at all, his inclination being rather to the active life.

'So I should have surmised. But chancing to look from my upper
window not long after sunrise, I saw you walking with a book in your
hand. What was it?'

Basil murmured that it was the Book of Psalms.

'Look, then,' said Benedict, 'at what lies before me. Here is a
commentary on that book, written by the learned and pious
Cassiodorus; written in the religious house which he himself has
founded, upon the shore of "ship-wrecking Scylaceum," as saith
Virgilius. Not a week ago it came into my hands, a precious gift
from the writer, and I have read much in it. On the last of his many
journeys, travelling from Ravenna to the south, he climbed hither,
and sojourned with us for certain days, and great was my solace in
the communing we had together. Perchance you knew him in the world?'

Gladly Basil recounted his memories of the great counsellor. And the
abbot listened with an attentive smile.

'I marvel not that you loved him. Reading in these pages, I am
delighted by the graces of his mind, and taught by the sanctity of
his spirit. At the very beginning, how sweetly does his voice sound.
Listen. "Trusting in the Lord's command, I knock at the doors of the
heavenly mystery, that He may open to my understanding His flowery
abodes, and that, permitted to enter the celestial garden, I may
pluck spiritual fruit without the sin of the first man. Verily this
book shines like a lamp; it is the salve of a wounded spirit, sweet
as honey to the inner man. So much hath it of beauty for the senses,
such healing in its balmy words, that to it may be applied the words
of Solomon: 'A closed garden, and a fountain sealed, a paradise
abounding in all fruits.' For if Paradise be deemed desirable
because it is watered by the delightful flow of four rivers, how
much more blessed is the mind which is refreshed by the founts of
one hundred and fifty psalms!"'

Basil scarce heeded the sense of the passage read to him. He could
hear only the soft music of the aged voice, which lulled him into a
calm full of faith and trust.

'Is not this better,' asked Benedict gently, whilst his eyes
searched the young man's countenance, 'than to live for the service
of kings, and to utter worldly counsel?'

'Better far, I cannot doubt,' Basil replied with humility.

'Utter the rest of your thought,' said the abbot, smiling. 'You
cannot doubt--and yet? Utter your mind to me, dear son.'

'My father, I obey you, desiring indeed with all my soul to seek
your guidance. My heart has been too much in this world, and for one
thought given to things eternal, I have bestowed a hundred upon my
own sorrows, and on those of Italy.'

His voice faltered, his head drooped.

'I say not,' murmured the listener, 'that you do wrong to love your
country.'

'Holy father, I were a hypocrite if I spoke of my country first of
all. For all but a year gone by, another love has possessed me.
Forgive me that I dare to speak such a word before you.'

The abbot turned his eyes to the window. Upon the sill had settled
two doves, which seemed to regard him curiously. He made a soft
gesture with his hand, and the birds flew away.

'Speak on,' he said after brief reflection, and with the same
indulgence. 'He who tells all speaks not to man but to God.'

And Basil told all; told it with humble simplicity, with entire
truthfulness, recounting his history from the day when he first
beheld Veranilda to the dreadful hour when Marcian's blood stained
his hands. He began in calm, but the revival of emotions which had
slept during his sickness and his convalescence soon troubled him
profoundly. Not only did the dormant feelings wake up again, but
things which he had forgotten rushed into his memory. So, when he
came to the last interview with Veranilda, he remembered, for the
first time since that day, what he had said to her, and the
recollection dismayed him. He burst into tears, overwhelmed at once
with misery and shame.

'It may be,' he sobbed, 'that she was innocent. Suffering had driven
me mad, and I uttered words such as never should have passed my
lips. If she is guiltless, there lives no baser man than I. For I
reproached her--my father, how you will scorn me!--I cast at her
in reproach her father's treachery.'

The abbot's brow rested upon his hand. It was thus he had listened,
unmoving, throughout the story; nor did he now stir, until Basil,
having ceased alike from speaking and from tears, had sat for a
little while in stillness and reflection. Then at length he turned
his eyes upon the young man, and spoke with sad gravity.

'Even so, even so. You gave your heart to a woman, and worshipped at
her feet, and behold there has come upon you the guilt of blood.
Not, you would protest, through your own fault; your friend was
false to you, and in just wrath you slew him. Who made you, O Basil,
his judge and his executioner?'

'Father, I seek not to excuse my sin.'

'It is well. And what penance will you lay upon yourself?'

Utterly subdued by awe, oblivious of his own will in the presence of
one so much more powerful, Basil murmured that whatever penance the
man of God saw fit to impose that would he perform.

'Nay,' said Benedict gently, 'that is too like presumption. Say
rather, you would endeavour to perform it. I will believe that if I
bade you fast long, or repeat many prayers, you would punctually
obey me. But what if I demanded of you that against which not only
your flesh, but all the motive of your life, rebelled? It were not
too much; yet dare you promise to achieve it?'

Basil looked up fearfully, and answered with tremulous lips:

'Not in my own strength; but perchance with the help of God.'

A grave smile passed over Benedict's countenance.

'It is well, my son; again, it is well. Come now, and let us reason
of this your sin. You avow to me that God and His commands have ever
been little in your mind, whereas you have thought much of this
world and its governance. I might ask you how it is possible to
reflect on the weal and woe of human kind without taking count of
Him who made the world and rules it; but let me approach you with a
narrower inquiry. You tell me that you love your country, and desire
its peace. How comes it, then, that you are numbered with the
violent, the lawless, with those who renounce their citizenship and
dishonour the State? Could not all your worldly meditations preserve
you from so gross an incoherence of thought and action?'

'Indeed, it should have done.'

'And would, perchance, had not your spleen overcome your reason.
Why, that is the case, O Basil, of all but every man who this day
calls himself a Roman citizen. Therefore is it that Italy lies under
the wrath of the Most High. Therefore is it that Rome has fallen,
and that the breath of pestilence, the sword of the destroyer, yea,
earthquake and flood and famine, desolate the land. Yet you here
find little time, my son, to meditate the laws of God, being so
busied for the welfare of men. Methinks your story has aimed a
little wide.'

Basil bent low before this gentle irony, which softened his heart.
The abbot mused a moment, gazing upon the golden cross.

'In the days of old,' he continued, 'Romans knew how to subdue their
own desires to the good of their country. He who, in self-seeking,
wronged the State, was cast forth from its bosom. Therefore was it
that Rome grew mighty, the Omnipotent fostering her for ends which
the fulness of time should disclose. Such virtue had our ancestors,
even though they worshipped darkly at the altars of daemons. But
from that pride they fell, for their hearts were hardened; and, at
length, when heathendom had wellnigh destroyed the principle whereby
they waxed, God revealed Himself unto His chosen, that ancient
virtue and new faith might restore the world. To turn your thought
upon these things, I sent you the book written long ago by the holy
father Augustine, concerning the Divine State. Have you read in it?'

'Some little,' answered Basil, 'but with wandering mind.'

'Therein you will discover, largely expounded, these reasonings I do
but touch upon. I would have you trace God's working in the past,
and, by musing upon what now is, ripen yourself in that citizenship
whereon you have prided yourself, though you neither understood its
true meaning nor had the strength to perform its duties. Losing
sight of the Heavenly City for that which is on earth, not even in
your earthly service were you worthy of the name of Roman; and,
inasmuch as you wronged the earthly Rome, even so did you sin
against that Eternal State of the Supreme Lord whereof by baptism
you were made a citizen. By such as you, O Basil, is the anger of
our God prolonged, and lest you should think that, amid a long and
bloody war, amid the trampling of armies, the fall of cities, one
death more is of no account, I say to you that, in the eyes of the
All-seeing, this deed of yours may be of heavier moment than the
slaughter of a battlefield. From your own lips it is manifest that
you had not even sound assurance of the guilt you professed to
punish. It may be that the man had not wronged you as you supposed.
A little patience, a little of the calm which becomes a reasoning
soul, and you might not only have saved yourself from crime, but
have resolved what must now ever be a doubt to your harassed
thoughts.'

'Such words did Veranilda herself speak,' exclaimed Basil. 'And I,
in my frenzy, thought them only a lamentation for the death of her
lover.'

'Call it frenzy; but remember, O my son, that no less a frenzy was
every act of your life, and every thought, which led you on the path
to that ultimate sin. Frenzy it is to live only for the flesh;
frenzy, to imagine that any good can come of aught you purpose
without beseeching the divine guidance.'

Much else did the abbot utter in this vein of holy admonition. And
Basil would have listened with the acquiescence of a perfect faith,
but that there stirred within. him the memory of what he had read in
Augustine's pages, darkening his spirit. At length he found courage
to speak of this, and asked in trembling tones:

'Am I one of those born to sin and to condemnation? Am I of those
unhappy beings who strive in vain against a doom predetermined by
the Almighty?'

Benedict's countenance fell; not as if in admission of a dread
possibility, but rather as in painful surprise.

'You ask me,' he answered solemnly, after a pause, 'what no man
should ask even when he communes with his own soul in the stillness
of night. The Gospel is preached to all; nowhere in the word of God
are any forbidden to hear it, or, hearing, to accept its solace.
Think not upon that dark mystery, which even to the understandings
God has most enlightened shows but as a formless dread. The sinner
shall not brood upon his sin, save to abhor it. Shall he who repents
darken repentance with a questioning of God's mercy? Then indeed
were there no such thing as turning from wrong to righteousness.'

'When I sent you that book,' he resumed, after observing the relief
that came to Basil's face, 'I had in mind only its salutary teaching
for such as live too much in man's world, and especially for those
who, priding themselves upon the name of Roman, are little given to
reflection upon all the evil Rome has wrought. Had I known what lay
upon your conscience, I should have withheld from you everything but
Holy Writ.'

'My man, Deodatus, had not spoken?' asked Basil.

'Concerning you, not a word. I did not permit him to be questioned,
and his talk has been only of his own sins.'

Basil wondered at this discretion in a simple rustic; yet, on a
second thought, found it consistent with the character of Deodatus,
as lately revealed to him.

'He has been long your faithful attendant?' inquired the abbot.

'Not so. Only by chance was he chosen from my horsemen to accompany
me hither. My own servant, Felix, being wounded, lay behind at
Aesernia.'

'If he be as honest and God-fearing as this man,' said Benedict,
'whose name, indeed, seems well to become him, then are you
fortunate in those who tend upon you. But of this and other such
things we will converse hereafter. Listen now, son Basil, to my
bidding. You have abstained from the Table of the Lord, and it is
well. Today, and every day until I again summon you, you will read
aloud in privacy the Seven Penitential Psalms, slowly and with
meditation; and may they grave themselves in your heart, to remain
there, a purification and a hope, whilst you live.'

Basil bowed his head, and whispered obedience.

'Moreover, so far as your strength will suffer it, you shall go
daily into the garden or the field, and there work with the
brethren. Alike for soul and for body it is good to labour under
God's sky, and above all to till God's earth and make it fruitful.
For though upon Adam, in whom we all died, was laid as a punishment
that he should eat only that which he had planted in the sweat of
his brow, yet mark, O Basil, that the Creator inflicts no earthly
punishment which does not in the end bear fruit of healing and of
gladness. What perfume is so sweet as that of the new-turned soil?
And what so profitable to health? When the Romans of old time began
to fall from virtue--such virtue as was permitted to those who
knew not God--the first sign of their evil state was the forgotten
plough. And never again can Italy be blessed--if it he the will of
the Almighty that peace be granted her--until valley and mountain
side and many-watered plain are rich with her children's labour. I
do not bid you live in silence, for silence is not always a good
counsellor; but refrain from merely idle speech, and strive, O
Basil, strive with all the force that is in you, that your thoughts
be turned upward. Go now, my son. It shall not be long before I
again call you to my tower.'

So, with a look of kindness which did not soften to a smile,
Benedict dismissed his penitent. When the door had closed, he sat
for a few minutes with head bent, then roused himself, glanced at
the clepsydra which stood in a corner of the room, and turned a page
or two of the volume lying before him. Presently his attention was
caught by the sound of fluttering wings; on the window sill had
again alighted the two doves, and again they seemed to regard him
curiously. The aged face brightened with tenderness.

'Welcome,' he murmured, 'ye whose love is innocent.'

From a little bag that lay on the table he drew grains, and
scattered them on the floor. The doves flew down and ate, and, as he
watched them, Benedict seemed to forget all the sorrows of the
world.





CHAPTER XXVI

VIVAS IN DEO




The telling of his story was to Basil like waking from a state of
imperfect consciousness in which dream and reality had
indistinguishably mingled. Since the fight with the brigands he had
never been himself; the fever in his blood made him incapable of
wonted thought or action; restored to health, he looked back upon
those days with such an alien sense that he could scarce believe he
had done the things he related. Only now did their move in him a
natural horror when he thought of the death of Marcian, a natural
distress when he remembered his bearing to Veranilda. Only now could
he see in the light of reason all that had happened between his talk
with Sagaris at Aesernia and his riding away with Venantius from the
villa on the island. As he unfolded the story, he marvelled at
himself, and was overcome with woe.

There needed not the words of the holy abbot to show him how blindly
he had acted. He could see now that, however it might appear, the
guilt of Marcian was quite unproved. The Syrian slave might have
lied, or else have uttered a mistaken suspicion. It might be true
that Marcian had been misled by some calumniator into thinking evil
of his friend. And had he not heard the declaration of Veranilda,
that she had suffered no wrong at his hands? Basil saw the face of
his beloved. Only a man possessed by the Evil Spirit could have
answered her as he had done. Was not the fact that Marcian had
brought Veranilda to his villa in order to give her into the hands
of Totila sufficient proof that he had neither wronged her nor
meditated wrong? Ay, but Basil reminded himself that he had accused
Veranilda of amorous complicity with Marcian. And at this
recollection his brain whirled.

Even were it permitted him ever to behold her again, how could he
stand before her? Must she not abhor him, as one whose baseness
surpassed all she had thought possible in the vilest slave? Jealousy
was pardonable; in its rage, a man might slay and be forgiven. But
for the reproach with which he had smitten her--her, pure and
innocent--there could be no forgiveness. It was an act of infamy,
branding him for ever.

Thoughts such as these intermingled with his reading of the Psalms
of penitence. Ever and again grief overwhelmed him, and he wept
bitterly. At the hour of the evening meal, he would willingly have
remained in his cell, to fast and mourn alone; but this, he felt,
would have been to shirk part of his penance; for, though the
brothers knew not of his sin, he could not meet their eyes for
shame, and such humiliation must needs be salutary. This evening
other guests sat at the abbot's table, and he shrank from their
notice, for though they were but men of humble estate, pilgrims from
Lucania, he felt debased before them. The reading, to which all
listened during their meal, was selected from that new volume of
Cassiodorus so esteemed by the abbot; it closed with a prayer in
which Basil found the very utterance his soul needed.

'O Lord, our Teacher and Guide, our Advocate and Judge, Thou the
Bestower and the Admonitor, terrible and clement, Rebuker and
Consoler, who givest sight to the blind, who makest possible to the
weak that which Thou commandest, who art so good that Thou desirest
to be for ever petitioned, so merciful that Thou sufferest no one to
despair; grant us that which we ask with Thy approval, and yet more
that which in our ignorance we fail to beseech. How weak we are,
Thou indeed knowest; by what a foe we are beset, Thou art aware. In
the unequal contest, in our mortal infirmity, we turn to Thee, for
it is the glory of Thy Majesty when the meek sheep overcomes the
roaring lion, when the Evil Spirit is repulsed by feeble flesh.
Grant that our enemy, who rejoices in our offending, may be saddened
by the sight of human happiness. Amen.'

He rose, for the first time, to attend the midnight office,
Deodatus, who was punctual as a monk at all the hours, awaking him
from sleep. But Marcus whispered an admonishing word.

'I praise your zeal, good brother; nevertheless, as your physician,
I cannot suffer your night's rest to be broken. Descend for lauds,
if you will, but not earlier.'

Basil bowed in obedience. Lauds again saw him at prayer. Hitherto,
when they were together in the oratory, it had been the habit of
Deodatus to kneel behind his master; this morning Basil placed
himself by his servant's side. They walked away together in the
pearly light of dawn, and Basil led the way to a sequestered spot,
whence there was a view over the broad valley of the Liris. Several
times of late he had come here, to gaze across the mountainous
landscape, wondering where Veranilda might be. Turning to his
companion, he laid a hand on the man's shoulder, and addressed him
in a voice of much gentleness.

'Did you leave nothing behind you, Deodatus, which would make the
thought of never returning to your home a sorrow?'

'Nothing, my dear lord,' was the reply. 'In my lifetime I have seen
much grief and little solace. All I loved are dead.'

'But you are young. Could you without a pang say farewell to the
world?'

Deodatus answered timidly:

'Here is peace.'

Continuing to question, Basil learnt that for this man the life of
the world was a weariness and a dread. Hardships of many kinds had
oppressed him from childhood; his was a meek soul, which had no
place amid the rudeness and violence of the times; from the first
hour, the cloistered life had cast a spell upon him.

'Here is peace,' he repeated. 'Here one can forget everything but to
worship God. Could I remain here, I were the happiest of men.'

And Basil mused, understanding, approving, yet unable to utter the
same words for himself. His eyes strayed towards the far valley,
shimmering in earliest daylight. He, too, had he not suffered dread
things whilst living in the world? And could he expect that life in
the future would be more kindly to him? None the less did his heart
yearn for that valley of human tribulation. He struggled to subdue
it.

'Deodatus, pray for me, that I may have strength to do that which I
see to be the best.'

It was no forced humility. Very beautiful in Basil's eyes showed the
piety and calm which here surrounded him, and his reverence for the
founder of this house of peace fell little short of that with which
he regarded the Saints in heaven. Never before--unless it were at
certain moments when conversing with the Lady Silvia--had he felt
the loveliness of a life in which religion was supreme; and never,
assuredly, had there stirred within him a spirit so devout. He
longed to attain unto righteousness, that entire purity of will,
which, it now seemed to him, could be enjoyed only in monastic
seclusion. All his life he had heard praise of those who renounced
the world; but their merit had been to him a far-off, uncomprehended
thing, without relation to himself. Now he understood. A man, a
sinner, it behoved him before all else to chasten his soul that he
might be pleasing unto God; and behold the way! For one who had
sinned so grievously, it might well be that there was no other path
of salvation.

This morning he went forth with the monks to labour. Brother Marcus
conducted him to a plot of garden ground where there was light work
to be done, and there left him. Willingly did Basil set about this
task, which broke the monotony of the day, and, more than that, was
in itself agreeable to him. He had always found pleasure in the
rustic life, and of late, at his Asculan villa, had often wished he
could abide in quiet for the rest of his days amid the fields and
the vineyards. Working in the mellow sunlight, above him the soft
blue sky of early autumn, and all around the silence of mountain and
of forest, he felt his health renew itself. When the first drops of
sweat stood upon his forehead he wiped them away with earthy
fingers, and the mere action--he knew not why--gave him
pleasure.

But of a sudden he became aware that he had lost something. From the
little finger of his left hand had slipped his signet ring. It must
have fallen since he began working, and anxiously he searched for it
about the ground. Whilst he was thus occupied, Marcus came towards
him, carrying a great basket of vegetables. Not without diffidence,
Basil told what had happened.

'You will rebuke me, holy brother, for heeding such a loss. But the
ring is very old; it has been worn by many of my ancestors, to them
it came, and from one who suffered martyrdom in the times of
Diocletian.'

'Then, indeed, I did well,' replied Marcus, 'to leave it on your
finger during your sickness. I looked at it and saw that it was a
Christian seal. Had it been one of those which are yet seen too
often, with the stamp of a daemon, I should have plucked it off, and
perhaps have destroyed it. The ring of a blessed martyr I Let us
seek, let us seek! But, brother Basil,' he added gravely, 'has there
passed through your heart no evil thought? I like not this falling
of the ring.'

Basil held up his wasted hand with a smile.

'True, true; you have lost flesh. Be thankful for it, dear brother;
so much the easier you combat with him whose ally is this body of
death. True, the ring may have fallen simply because your finger was
so thin. But be warned, O Basil, against that habit of mind which
interprets in an earthly sense things of divine meaning.'

'I had indeed let my thoughts dwell upon worldliness,' Basil
admitted.

The monk smiled a satisfied reproof.

'Even so, even so! And look you! In the moment of your avowal my
hand falls upon the ring.'

Rejoicing together, they inspected it. In the gold was set an onyx,
graven with the monogram of Christ, a wreath, and the motto, 'Vivas
in Deo.' Marcus knelt, and pressed the seal to his forehead,
murmuring ecstatically:

'The ring of a blessed martyr!'

'I am all unworthy to wear it,' said Basil, sincerely hesitating to
replace it on his finger. 'Indeed, I will not do so until I have
spoken with the holy father.'

This resolve Marcus commended, and, with a kindly word, he went his
way. Basil worked on. To discipline his thoughts he kept murmuring,
'Vivas in Deo,' and reflecting upon the significance of the words;
for, often as he had seen them, he had never till now mused upon
their meaning. What was the life in God I Did it mean that of the
world to come? Ay, but how attain unto eternal blessedness save by
striving to anticipate on earth that perfection of hereafter? And so
was he brought again to the conclusion that, would he assure life
eternal, he must renounce all that lured him in mortality.

The brothers returning from the field at the third hour signalled to
him that for to-day he had worked enough. One of them, in passing,
gave him a smile, and said good-naturedly:

'Thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and
it shall be well with thee.'

Weary, but with the sense of healthful fatigue, Basil rested for an
hour on his bed. He then took the Psalter and opened it at hazard,
and the first words his eyes fell upon were:

'Thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and
it shall be well with thee.'

'A happy omen,' he thought. But stay; what was this that followed?

'Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house;
thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

'Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.'

The blood rushed into his cheeks. He sat staring at the open page as
though in astonishment. He read and re-read the short psalm of which
these verses were part, and if a voice had spoken it to him from
above he could scarce have felt more moved by the message. Basil had
never been studious of the Scriptures, and, if ever he had known
that they contained such matter as this, it had quite faded from his
memory. He thought of the Holy Book as hostile to every form of
earthly happiness, its promises only for those who lived to mortify
their natural desires. Yet here was the very word of God encouraging
him in his heart's hope. Were not men wont to use the Bible as their
oracle, opening the pages at hazard, even as he had done?

It was long before he could subdue his emotions so as to turn to the
reading imposed upon him. He brought himself at length into the
fitting mind by remembering that this wondrous promise was not for a
sinner, a murderer; and that only could he hope to merit such
blessing if he had truly repented, and won forgiveness. Stricken
down by this reflection he grew once more humble and sad.

In the afternoon, as he was pacing alone in a little portico near
the abbot's tower, the prior approached him. This reverend man had
hitherto paid little or no attention to Basil. He walked ever with
eyes cast down as if in deep musing, yet it was well known that he
observed keenly, and that his duties to the community were
discharged with admirable zeal and competence. In the world he would
have been a great administrator. In the monastery he seemed to find
ample scope for his powers, and never varied from the character of a
man who set piety and learning above all else. Drawing nigh to Basil
he greeted him gently, and asked whether it would give him pleasure
to see the copyists at work. Basil gladly accepted this invitation,
and was conducted to a long, well-lit room, where, at great desks,
sat some five or six of the brothers, each bent over a parchment
which would some day form portion of a volume, writing with slow
care, with the zeal of devotees and with the joy of artists. Not a
whisper broke upon the silence in which the pen-strokes alone were
audible. Stepping softly, the prior led his companion from desk to
desk, drawing attention, without a word, to the nature of the book
which in each case was being copied. It surprised Basil to see that
the monks busied themselves in reproducing not only religious works
but also the writings of authors who had lived in pagan times, and
of this he spoke when the prior had led him forth again.

'Have you then been taught,' asked the prior, 'that it is sinful to
read Virgil and Statius, Livy and Cicero?'

'Not so, reverend father,' he replied modestly, his eyes falling
before the good-humoured gaze. 'But I was so ill instructed as to
think that to those who had withdrawn from the world it might not be
permitted.'

'Father Hieronymus had no such misgiving,' said the prior, 'for he
himself, at Bethlehem, taught children to read the ancient poets;
not unmindful that the blessed Paul himself, in those writings which
are the food of our spirit, takes occasion to cite from more than
one poet who knew not Christ. If you would urge the impurity and
idolatry which deface so many pages of the ancients, let me answer
you in full with a brief passage of the holy Augustine. "For," says
he, "as the Egyptians had not only idols to be detested by
Israelites, but also precious ornaments of gold and silver, to be
carried off by them in flight, so the science of the Gentiles is not
only composed of superstitions to be abhorred, but of liberal arts
to be used in the service of truth."'

They walked a short distance without further speech, then the prior
stopped.

'Many there are,' he said, with a gesture indicating the world
below, 'who think that we flee the common life only for our souls'
salvation. So, indeed, it has been in former times, and God forbid
that we should speak otherwise than with reverence of those who
abandoned all and betook themselves to the desert that they might
live in purity and holiness. But to us, by the grace bestowed upon
our holy father, has another guidance been shown. Know, my son,
that, in an evil time, we seek humbly to keep clear, not for
ourselves only, but for all men, the paths of righteousness and of
understanding. With heaven's blessing we strive to preserve what
else might utterly perish, to become not only guardians of God's law
but of man's learning.'

Therewith did the prior take his leave, and Basil pondered much on
what he had heard. It was a new light to him, for, as his instructor
suspected, he shared the common view of coenobite aims, and still
but imperfectly understood the law of Benedict. All at once the life
of this cloister appeared before him in a wider and nobler aspect.
In the silent monks bent over their desks he saw much more than
piety and learning. They rose to a dignity surpassing that of consul
or praefect. With their pens they warred against the powers of
darkness, a grander conflict than any in which men drew sword. He
wished he could talk of this with his cousin Decius, for Decius knew
so much more than he, and could look so much deeper into the sense
of things.

Days passed. Not yet did he receive a summons to the abbot's tower.
Rapidly recovering strength, he worked long in the fields, and
scrupulously performed his penitential exercises. Only, when he had
finished his daily reading of the appointed psalms, he turned to
that which begins: 'Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that
walketh in His ways.' How could he err in dwelling upon the word of
God? One day, as he closed the book, his heart was so full of a
strange, half-hopeful, half-fearful longing, that it overflowed in
tears; and amid his weeping came a memory of Marcian, a tender
memory of the days of their friendship: for the first time he
bewailed the dead man as one whom he had dearly loved.

Then there sounded a knock at the door of his cell. Commanding
himself, and turning away so as to hide his face, he bade enter.

And, looking up, he beheld his servant Felix.





CHAPTER XXVII

THE KING OF THE GOTHS




Transported from grief to joy, Basil sprang forward and clasped
Felix in his arms.

'God be thanked,' he exclaimed, 'that I see you alive and well!
Whence come you? What is your news?'

With his wonted grave simplicity, Felix told that he had long since
recovered from the effects of the wound, but had remained at
Aesernia, unable to obtain permission to go in search of his master.
The Gothic army was now advancing along the Via Latina; Basil's
followers were united with the troop under Venantius; and on their
arrival at Casinum, Felix succeeded in getting leave to climb to the
monastery. He had been assured that his lord had recovered health,
and was still sojourning with the holy men; but by whom this news
had been brought he could not say. Doubtless Venantius had held
communication with the monastery.

'And you are here alone?' asked Basil, fearing still to utter the
question which was foremost in his mind.

'Alone of my lord's men. I followed those that came with the king.'

'The king? Totila is here?'

'It was rumoured,' replied Felix, in a reverent voice, 'that he
desired to speak of deep matters with the holy Benedict. They are
even now conversing.'

Basil fell into a great agitation. Absorbed in his private griefs,
and in thoughts of eternity, he had all but forgotten the purpose
with which he crossed the Apennines at the summons of Marcian. The
name of Totila revived his interest in the progress of the war, but
at the same time struck his heart with a chill misgiving. With what
eyes would the king regard Marcian's slayer? Was he more likely to
pardon the deed if he knew (as assuredly he must) that it was done
in jealous love of Veranilda? The words he had not dared to speak
leapt to his lips.

'Felix, know you anything of the Gothic lady--of her whom we
lost?'

'The lord Venantius brought her to Aesernia,' was the grave reply,
'and she is now among the wives and daughters of the Gothic lords
who move with the army.'

Answering other questions, Felix said that he had not seen
Veranilda, and that he knew nothing of her save what he had heard
from those of Basil's men who had been at the island villa, and,
subsequently, from the gossip of the camp. A story had got abroad
that Veranilda was the lost princess of the Amal line surviving in
Italy, and it was commonly thought among the Goths that their king
intended to espouse her--the marriage to be celebrated in Rome,
when Rome once more acknowledged the Gothic ruler. This did Felix
report unwillingly, and only because his master insisted upon
knowing all.

'Very like it is true,' commented Basil, forcing a smile. 'You know,
my good Felix, that the Emperor would fain have had her adorn his
court; and I would rather see her Queen of Italy. But tell me now,
last of all, what talk there has been of me. Or has my name been
happily forgotten?'

'My dear lord's followers,' replied Felix, 'have not ceased to speak
of him among themselves, and to pray for his safety.'

'That I gladly believe. But I see there is more to tell. Out with it
all, good fellow. I have suffered worse things than any that can
lie. before me.'

In sad obedience, the servant made known that he and his fellows had
been closely questioned, first by Venantius, later, some two or
three of them, by the king himself, regarding their master's course
of life since he went into Picenum. They had told the truth, happy
in that they could do so without fear and without shame.

'And how did the king bear himself to you?' asked Basil eagerly.

'With that nobleness which became him,' was the fervid answer. 'It
is said among the Goths that only a lie or an act of cowardice can
move Totila to wrath against one who is in his power; and after
speaking face to face with him, I well believe it. He questioned me
in few words, but not as a tyrant; and when I had replied as best I
could, he dismissed me with a smile.'

Basil's head drooped.

'Yes, Totila is noble,' fell softly from him. 'Let be what will be.
He is worthier than I.'

A knock sounded again at the door of the cell, and there entered
Marcus. His keen and kindly face betrayed perturbation of spirit,
and after looking from Basil to the new comer and then at Basil
again, he said in a nervous voice:

'The lord abbot bids you repair at once, my brother, to the prior's
room.'

'I go,' was the prompt reply.

As they left the room, Marcus caught Basil's arm and whispered:

'It is the King of the Goths who awaits you. But have courage, dear
brother; his face is mild. Despite his error, he has borne himself
reverently to our holy father.'

'Know you what has passed between them?' asked Basil, also in a
whisper.

'That none may know. But when Totila came forth from the tower, he
had the face of one who has heard strange things. Who can say what
the Almighty purposes by the power of his servant Benedict? Not
unguided, surely, did the feet of the misbelieving warrior turn to
climb this mount.'

Leaving the poet monk to nurse his hopes, Basil betook himself with
rapid steps to the prior's room. At the door stood three armed men;
two had the long flaxen hair which proclaimed them Goths, the third
was Venantius. A look of friendly recognition was all that passed
between Basil and his countryman, who straightway admitted him to
the room, announced his name, and retired. Alone--his attitude
that of one who muses--sat the Gothic King. He was bareheaded and
wore neither armour nor weapon; his apparel a purple tunic, with a
loose, gold-broidered belt, and a white mantle purple seamed. Youth
shone in his ruddy countenance, and the vigour of perfect manhood
graced his frame. The locks that fell to his shoulders had a darker
hue than that common in the Gothic race, being a deep burnished
chestnut; but upon his lips and chin the hair gleamed like pale
gold. Across his forehead, from temple to temple, ran one deep
furrow, and this, together with a slight droop of the eyelids,
touched his visage with a cast of melancholy, whereby, perhaps, the
comely features became more royal.

Upon Basil, who paused at a respectful distance, he fixed a gaze of
meditative intentness, and gazed so long in silence that the Roman
could not but at length lift his eyes. Meeting the glance with grave
good nature, Totila spoke firmly and frankly.

'Lord Basil, they tell me that you crossed Italy to draw your sword
in my cause. Is this the truth?'

'It is the truth, O king.'

'How comes it then that you are laden with the death of one who had
long proved himself my faithful servant, one who, when you
encountered him, was bound on a mission of great moment?'

'He whom I slew,' answered Basil, 'was the man whom of all men I
most loved. I thought him false to me, and struck in a moment of
madness.'

'Then you have since learnt that you were deceived?'

Basil paused a moment.

'Gracious lord, that I accused him falsely, I no longer doubt,
having had time to reflect upon many things, and to repent of my
evil haste. But I am still ignorant of the cause which led him to
think ill of me, and so to speak and act in a way which could not
but make my heart burn against him.'

'Something of this too I have heard,' said the king, his blue eyes
resting upon Basil's countenance with a thoughtful interest. 'You
believe, then, that your friend was wholly blameless towards you, in
intention and in act?'

'Save inasmuch as credited that strange slander, borne I know not
upon what lips.'

'May I hear,' asked Totila, 'what this slander charged upon you?'

Basil raised his head, and put all his courage into a brief reply.

'That I sought to betray the lady Veranilda into the hands of the
Greeks.'

'And you think,' said the king slowly, meditatively, his eyes still
searching Basil's face, 'that your friend could believe you capable
of that?'

'How he could, I know not,' came the sad reply. 'Yet I must needs
think it was so.'

'Why?' sounded from the king's lips abruptly, and with a change to
unexpected sternness. 'What forbids you the more natural thought
that this man, this Marcian, was himself your slanderer?'

'Thinking so, O king, I slew him. Thinking so, I defiled my tongue
with base suspicion of Veranilda. Being now again in my right mind,
I know that my accusation of _her_ was frenzy, and therefore I
choose rather to believe that I wronged Marcian than that he could
conceive so base a treachery.'

Totila reflected. All but a smile as of satisfaction lurked within
his eyes.

'Know you,' he next inquired, 'by what means Marcian obtained charge
of the lady Veranilda?'

'Of that I am as ignorant as of how she was first carried into
captivity.'

'Yet,' said the king sharply, 'you conversed with her after
Marcian's death.'

'Gracious lord,' answered Basil in low tones, 'it were miscalled
conversing. With blood upon my hands, I said I scarce knew what, and
would not give ear to the words which should have filled me with
remorse.'

There was again a brief silence. Totila let his eyes stray for a
moment, then spoke again meditatively.

'You sought vainly for this maiden, whilst she was kept in ward.
Being your friend, did not Marcian lend his aid to discover her for
you?'

'He did so, but fruitlessly. And when at length he found her, his
mind to me had changed.'

'Strangely, it must be confessed,' said the king. His eyes were
again fixed upon Basil with a look of pleasant interest. 'Some day,
perchance, you may learn how that came about; meanwhile, you do well
to think good rather than evil. In truth, it would be difficult to
do otherwise in this dwelling of piety and peace. Is there imposed
upon you some term of penance? I scarce think you have it in mind to
turn monk?'

The last words, though not irreverently uttered, marked a change in
Totila's demeanour. He seemed to lay aside an unwonted gravity, to
become the ruler of men, the warrior, the conqueror. His forehead
lost its long wrinkle, as, with eyebrows bent and lips compressed
into a rallying half smile, he seemed to challenge all the manhood
in him he addressed.

'For that,' Basil replied frankly, 'I lack the calling.'

'Well said. And how tends your inclination as regards the things of
this world? Has it changed in aught since you came hither?'

'In nothing, O king,' was the firm response 'I honour the Goth, even
as I love my country.'

'Spoken like a man. But I hear that you have passed through a long
sickness, and your cheek yet lacks something of its native hue. It
might be well if you took your ease yet a little with these good
bedesmen.'

'It is true that I have not yet all my strength,' answered Basil.
'Moreover,' he added, lowering his voice, 'I would fain lighten my
soul of the sin that burdens it. It may be that, ere long, the holy
father will grant me absolution.'

Totila nodded with a grave smile.

'Be it so. When you are sound in flesh and spirit, follow me
northward. I shall then have more to say to you.'

The look accompanying these words lent them a significance which put
confusion into Basil's mind. He saw the courteous gesture wherewith
the king dismissed him; he bowed and withdrew; but when he had left
the room he stood as one bewildered, aware of nothing, his eyes
turned vacantly upon some one who addressed him. Presently he found
himself walking apart with Venantius, who spoke to him of public
affairs, apprised him of the course of the war during these past
weeks, and uttered the hope that before the end of the year the
liberators would enter Rome. It was true that the Emperor had at
length charged Belisarius with the task of reconquering Italy, but
months must pass before an army could be assembled and transported;
by the latest news the great commander was in Illyria, striving to
make a force out of fresh-recruited barbarians, and lamenting the
avarice of Justinian which grudged him needful supplies. And as he
listened to all this, Basil felt a new ardour glow within him. He
had ever worshipped the man of heroic virtues; once upon a time it
was Belisarius who fired his zeal; now his eyes dazzled with the
glory of Totila; he burned to devote a loyal service to this brave
and noble king.

Suddenly there sounded a trumpet. Its note broke strangely upon the
monastic stillness, and, in a moment, echoed clear from the
mountains.

'The king goes forth,' said Venantius. 'I must leave you. Join us
speedily yonder.'

He pointed towards Rome. On Basil's lips quivered a word, a
question, but before it could be uttered the soldier had stridden
away, his casque gleaming in the sun, and his sword clanking beside
him.

Again with mind confused, Basil went to his cell, and sat there head
on hand, trying to recover the mood, the thoughts, with which he had
risen this morning. But everything was changed. He could no longer
think of the past; the future called to him, and its voice was like
that of the Gothic trumpet, stirring his blood, urging him to
activity. At midday some one knocked, and there entered Deodatus.

'Where is Felix?' was Basil's first question.

Felix was gone, but only to the town at the foot of the mountain,
where he and two of his fellows would abide until their master left
the monastery. With this message Deodatus had been charged by
Venantius. He added that Felix had been dismissed, at the abbot's
order, during Basil's interview with the king.

'I understand,' said Basil in himself; and during the rest of the
day he strove with all the force of his will to recover calm and
pious thoughts. In the night that followed he slept little; it was
now the image of Veranilda that hovered before him and kept him
wakeful, perturbed with a tender longing. God, it might be, would
pardon him his offence against the Divine law; but could he look for
forgiveness from Veranilda? When he thought of the king's last words
he was lured with hope; when he reasoned upon this hope, it turned
to a mocking emptiness. And through the next day, and the next
again, his struggle still went on. He worked and prayed as usual,
and read the Psalms of penitence not once only, but several times in
the four-and-twenty hours; that other psalm, to which he had turned
for strengthening of the spirit, he no longer dared to open. And all
this time he scarce spoke with any one; not that the brethren looked
upon him with less kindness, or held him at a distance, but the
rebuke of his own conscience kept him mute. He felt that his
communion with these holy men was in seeming only, and it shamed him
to contrast their quiet service of the Eternal with the turbid
worldliness of his own thoughts.

During these days the abbot was not seen. Venturing, at length, when
he happened to find himself alone with Marcus, to speak of this, he
learnt that the holy father was not in his wonted health; Marcus
added that the disorder had resulted from the visit of the king.
After Totila's departure, Benedict had passed hours in solitary
prayer, until a faintness came upon him, from which he could not yet
recover. Basil was turning away sadly, when the monk touched his
arm, and said in a troubled voice:

'Many times he has spoken of you, dear brother.'

'Would,' replied Basil, 'that I were worthy of his thoughts.'

'Did he think you unworthy,' said Marcus, 'he would not grieve that
you must so soon go from among us.'

'The holy father has said that I must soon leave you?'

Marcus nodded gravely, and walked away.

Another week passed. By stern self-discipline, Basil had fixed his
thoughts once more on things spiritual, and the result appeared in a
quiet contentment. He waited upon the will of Benedict, which he had
come to regard as one with the will of God. And at length the
expected summons came. It was on the evening of Saturday, after
vespers; the abbot had been present at the office, and, as he went
forth from the oratory, he bade Basil follow him. They entered the
tower, and Benedict, who walked feebly, sat for some moments silent
in his chair, as if he had need of repose before the effort of
speaking. Through the window streamed a warm light, illumining the
aged face turned thither with eyes which dreamt upon the vanishing
day.

'So you are no longer impatient to be gone?' were the abbot's first
words, spoken in a voice which had not lost its music, though
weakness made it low.

'My father,' answered Basil, 'I have striven with myself and God has
helped me.'

He knew that it was needless to say more. The eyes bent upon him
read all his thoughts; the confessions, the pleadings, he might have
uttered, all lay open before that calm intelligence.'

'It is true, dear son,' said Benedict, 'that you have fought
bravely, and your countenance declares that, in some measure,
victory has been granted you. That it is not the complete victory of
those who put the world for ever beneath their feet, shall not move
me to murmur. The Lord of the vineyard biddeth whom He will; not all
are called to the same labour; it may be--for in this matter I see
but darkly--it may be that the earthly strife to which your heart
impels you shall serve the glory of the Highest. As indeed doth
every act of man, for how can it be otherwise? But I speak of the
thought, the purpose, whereby 'in the end of all things, all must be
judged.'

Basil heard these sentences with a deep joy. There was silence, and
when the aged voice again spoke, it was in a tone yet more solemn.
Benedict had risen.

'Answer me, my son, and speak as in the presence of God, whom I
humbly serve. Do you truly repent of the sin whereof you made
confession to me?'

Kneeling, Basil declared his penitence. Thereupon, Benedict, looking
upwards, opened his lips in prayer.

'Receive, O Lord, our humble supplications, and to me, who above all
have need of Thy compassion, graciously give ear. Spare Thou this
penitent, that, by Thy mercy, he may escape condemnation in the
judgment to come. Let him not know the dread of darkness, nor the
pang of fire. Having turned from his way of error into the path of
righteousness, be he not again stricken with the wounds of sin, but
grant Thou that there abide with him for ever that soul's health
which Thy grace hath bestowed and Thy mercy hath established.'

As he listened, Basil's eyes filled with tears, and when bidden to
rise he felt as one who has thrown off a burden; rejoicing in his
recovered strength of body and soul, he gazed into that venerable
face with gratitude too great for words.

'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' It was with a
parent's tenderness that Benedict now spoke. 'I am old, O Basil, and
have but a few more steps to take upon this earth. Looking upon me,
you see long promise of life before you. And yet--'

The soft accents were suspended. For a moment Benedict gazed as
though into the future; then, with a wave of his hand, passed to
another thought.

'To-morrow you will join with us in the Holy Communion. You will
pass the day in sober joy among the brethren, not one of whom but
shares your gladness and desires your welfare. And at sunrise on the
day after, you will go forth from our gates. Whether to return, I
know not; be that with the Ruler of All. If again you climb this
mount, I shall not be here to bid you welcome. Pray humbly, even as
I do, that we may meet in the life eternal.'

After Mass on the morrow, when he had joyfully partaken of the
Eucharist, Basil was bidden to the priest's room. This time it was
the prior himself who received him, and with an address which
indicated the change in the position of the penitent, now become an
ordinary guest.

'Lord Basil, your follower, Deodatus, is minded to fulfil the
prophecy of his name, and tells me that it would be with your good
will. Are you content to deprive yourself of his service, that he
may continue to abide with us, and after due preparation, take the
vows of our community?'

'Content,' was the reply, 'and more than content. If ever man seemed
born for the holy life, it is he. I entreat you, reverend father, to
favour his desire.'

'Be it so. I have spoken of this matter with the lord abbot, who has
graciously given his consent. Let me now make known to you that, at
sunrise to-morrow, your attendants who have been sojourning at
Casinum, will await you by the gate of the monastery. I wish you,
dear lord, a fair journey. Let your thoughts sometimes turn to us;
by us you will ever be remembered.'

Long before the morrow's sunrise, Basil was stirring. By the light
of his little lamp, he and Deodatus conversed together, no longer as
master and servant, but as loving friends, until the bell called
them to matins. The night was chill; under a glistening moon all the
valley land was seen to be deep covered with far-spreading mist,
whereamid the mount of the monastery and the dark summits round
about rose like islands in a still, white sea. When matins and lauds
were over, many of the monks embraced and tenderly took leave of the
departing guest. The last to do so was Marcus, who led him aside and
whispered:

'I see you have again put on your ring, as was right. Let me, I beg
of you, once more touch it with my lips.'

Having done so with the utmost reverence, he clasped Basil in his
arms, kissed him on either cheek, and said, amid tears:

'Lest we should never meet again, take and keep this; not for its
worth, for God knows it has little, but in memory of my love.'

The gift was a little book, a beautifully written copy of all the
verses composed by the good Marcus in honour of Benedict and of the
Sacred Mount of Casinum.

Holding it against his heart, Basil rode down into the mist.





CHAPTER XXVIII

AT HADRIAN'S VILLA




Rome waited. It was not long to the setting of the Pleiades, and
there could be no hope that the new army from the East would enter
Italy this year. Belisarius lay on the other side of Hadria; in
Italy the Imperial commanders scarce moved from the walls where each
had found safety. Already suffering dearth (for Totila now had ships
upon the Tyrrhene Sea, hindering the corn vessels that made for
Portus), such of her citizens as had hope elsewhere and could
escape, making haste to flee, watching the slow advance of the
Gothic conqueror, and fearful of the leaguer which must presently
begin, Rome waited.

One morning the attention of those who went about the streets was
caught by certain written papers which had been fixed during the
night on the entrance of public buildings and at other such
conspicuous points; they bore a proclamation of the King of the
Goths. Reminding the Roman people that nearly the whole of Italy was
now his, and urging them to avoid the useless sufferings of a siege,
Totila made promise that, were the city surrendered to him, neither
hurt nor loss should befall one of the inhabitants; and that under
his rule Rome should have the same liberty, the same honour, as in
the time of the glorious Theodoric. Before these papers had been
torn down, their purport became universally known; everywhere men
whispered together; but those who would have welcomed the coming of
Totila could not act upon their wish, and the Greeks were confident
of relief long ere the city could be taken by storm or brought to
extremities. Bessas well knew the numbers of Totila's army; he
himself commanded a garrison of three thousand men, and not much
larger than this was the force with which, after leaving soldiers to
maintain his conquest throughout the land, the king now drew towards
Rome. At the proclamation Bessas laughed, for he saw in it a device
dictated by weakness.

And now, in these days of late autumn, the Gothic army lay all but
in sight. Watchers from the walls pointed eastward, to where on its
height, encircled by the foaming Anio, stood the little town of
Tibur; this, a stronghold overlooking the Ager Romanus, Totila had
turned aside to besiege. The place must soon yield to him. How long
before his horsemen came riding along the Tiburtine Way?

Close by Tibur, on a gently rising slope, sheltered by mountains
alike from northern winds and from the unwholesome breathing of the
south, stood the vast pleasure-house built by the Emperor Hadrian,
with its presentment in little of the scenes and architecture which
had most impressed him in his travels throughout the Roman world.
The lapse of four hundred years had restored to nature his
artificial landscape: the Vale of Tempe had forgotten its name;
Peneus and Alpheus flowed unnoticed through tracts of wood or
wilderness; but upon the multitude of edifices, the dwellings,
theatres, hippodromes, galleries, lecture halls, no destroyer's hand
had yet fallen. They abounded in things beautiful, in carving and
mosaic, in wall-painting and tapestries, in statues which had been
the glory of Greece, and in marble portraiture which was the boast
of Rome. Here, amid the decay of ancient splendour and the
luxuriance of the triumphing earth, King Totila made his momentary
abode; with him, in Hadrian's palace, housed the Gothic
warrior-nobles, and a number of ladies, their wives and relatives,
who made, as it were, a wandering court. Honour, pride, and cheerful
courage were the notable characteristics of these Gothic women. What
graces they had they owed to nature, not to any cultivation of the
mind. Their health Buffered in a nomadic life from the ills of the
country, the dangers of the climate, and the children by whom a few
were accompanied, showed a degeneracy of blood which threatened the
race with extinction.

Foremost in rank among them was Athalfrida, sister to the king, and
wife of a brawny lord named Osuin. Though not yet five and twenty
years old, Athalfrida had borne seven children, of whom five died in
babyhood. A creature of magnificent form, and in earlier life of
superb vigour, her paling cheek told of decline that had begun;
nevertheless her spirits were undaunted; and her voice, in gay talk,
in song or in laughter, sounded constantly about the halls and wild
gardens. Merry by choice, she had in her a vein of tenderness which
now and then (possibly due to failing health) became excessive,
causing her to shed abundant tears with little or no cause, and to
be over lavish of endearments with those she loved or merely liked.
Athalfrida worshipped her husband; in her brother saw the ideal
hero. She was ardent in racial feeling, thought nothing good but
what was Gothic, and hated the Italians for their lack of gratitude
to the people of Theodoric.

To her the king had intrusted Veranilda. Knowing her origin and
history, Athalfrida, in the beginning, could not but look coldly
upon her charge. The daughter of a Gothic renegade, the betrothed of
a Roman noble, and finally an apostate from the creed of her
race-how could such an one expect more than the barest civility from
Totila's sister? Yet in a little time it had come to pass that
Athalfrida felt her heart soften to the sad and beautiful maiden,
who never spoke but gently, who had compassion for all suffering,
and willing aid for any one she could serve, whom little children
loved as soon as they looked into her eyes, and heard her voice.
Though a daughter of the abhorred Ebrimut, Veranilda was of Amal
blood, and, despite what seemed her weakness and her errors, it soon
appeared that she cherished fervidly the glory of the Gothic name.
This contradiction puzzled the wife of Osuin, whose thoughts could
follow only the plainest track. She suspected that her charge must
be the victim of some enchantment, of some evil spell; and in their
talk she questioned her with infinite curiosity concerning her
acquaintance with Basil, her life in the convent at Praeneste, her
release and the journey with Marcian. Veranilda spoke as one who has
nothing to conceal; only, when pressed for the story of that last
day at the island villa, she turned away her face, and entreated the
questioner's forbearance. All else she told with a sad simplicity.
Her religious conversion was the result of teaching she had received
from the abbess, a Roman lady of great learning, who spoke of things
till then unknown to her, and made so manifest the truth of the
Catholic creed that her reason was constrained to accept it. Obeying
the king's command, Athalfrida refrained from argument and
condemnation, and, as Veranilda herself, when once she had told her
story, never again returned to it, the subject was almost forgotten.
They lived together on terms as friendly as might be between persons
so different. The other ladies, their curiosity once satisfied,
scarce paid any heed to her at all; and Veranilda was never more
content than when left quite alone, to ply her needle and commune
with her thoughts.

Against all expectation, the gates of Tibur remained obstinately
closed; three weeks went by, and those who came on to the walls to
parley had only words of scorn for the Gothic king, whom they bade
beware of the Greek force which would shortly march to their
succour. Only a small guard of Isaurians held the town, but it was
abundantly provisioned, and strong enough to defy attack for an
indefinite time. The Goths had no skill in taking fortresses by
assault; when walls held firm against them, they seldom overcame
except by blockade; and this it was which, despite his conquest of
the greater part of Italy, made Totila thus slow and cautious in his
approach to Rome. He remembered that Vitiges, who laid siege to the
city with a hundred thousand men, had retreated at last with his
troops diminished by more than half, so worn and dispirited that
they scarce struck another blow against Belisarius. The Greek
commander, Totila well knew, would not sally forth and risk an
engagement: to storm the battlements would be an idle, if not a
fatal, attempt; and how, with so small an army, could he encompass
so vast a wall? To guard the entrance to the river with his ships,
and to isolate Rome from every inland district of Italy, seemed to
the Gothic king the only sure way of preparing his final triumph.
But time pressed; however beset with difficulties, Belisarius would
not linger for ever beyond Hadria. The resistance of Tibur excited
Totila's impatience, and at length stirred his wrath. Osuin heard a
terrible threat fall from his lips, and the same evening whispered
it to Athalfrida.

'He will do well,' answered his wife, with brows knit.

On the morrow, Athalfrida and Veranilda sat together in the gardens,
or what once had been the gardens, of Hadrian's palace, and looked
forth over the vast brown landscape, with that gleam upon its limit,
that something pale between earth and air, which was the Tyrrhene
Sea. Over the sky hung thin grey clouds, broken with strips of hazy
blue, and softly suffused with warmth from the invisible sun.

'O that this weary war would end!' exclaimed the elder lady in the
language of the Goths. 'I am sick of wandering, sick of this south,
where winter is the same as summer, sick of the name of Rome. I
would I were back in Mediolanum. There, when you look from the
walls, you see the great white mountains, and a wind blows from
them, cold, keen; a wind that sets you running and leaping, and
makes you hungry. Here I have no gust for food, and indeed there is
none worth eating.'

As she spoke, she raised her hand to the branch of an arbutus just
above her head, plucked one of the strawberry-like fruits, bit into
it with her white teeth, and threw the half away contemptuously.

'You!' She turned to her companion abruptly. 'Where would you like
to live when the war is over?'

Veranilda's eyes rested upon something in the far distance, but less
far than the shining horizon.

'Surely not _there_!' pursued the other, watching her. 'I was but
once in Rome, and I had not been there a week when I fell sick of
fever. King Theodoric knew better than to make his dwelling at Rome,
and Totila will never live there. The houses are so big and so close
together they scarce leave air to breathe; so old, too, they look as
if they would tumble upon your head. I have small liking for
Ravenna, where there is hardly dry land to walk upon, and you can't
sleep for the frogs. Verona is better. But, best of all, Mediolanum.
There, if he will listen to me, my brother shall have his palace and
his court--as they say some of the emperors did, I know not how
long ago.'

Still gazing at the far distance, Veranilda murmured:

'I never saw the city nearer than this.'

'I would no one might ever look upon it again!' cried Athalfrida,
her blue eyes dark with anger and her cheeks hot. 'I would that the
pestilence, which haunts its streets, might make it desolate, and
that the muddy river, which ever and again turns it into a swamp,
would hide its highest palace under an eternal flood.'

Veranilda averted her face and kept silence. Thereupon the other
seemed to repent of having spoken so vehemently.

'Well, that's how I feel sometimes,' she said, in a voice suddenly
gentle. 'But I forgot--or I wouldn't have said it.'

'I well understand, dear lady,' replied her companion. 'Rome has
never been loyal to the Goths. And yet some Romans have.'

'How many? To be sure, you know one, and in your thought he stands
for a multitude. Come, you must not be angry with me, child. Nay,
vexed, then. Nay then, hurt and sad. I am not myself to-day. I
dreamt last night of the snowy mountains, and this warmth oppresses
me. In truth, I often fear I shall fall sick. Feel my hand, how hot
it is. Where are the children? Let us walk.'

Not far away she discovered three little boys, two of them her own,
who were playing at battles and sieges upon stairs which descended
from this terrace to the hippodrome below. After watching them
awhile, with laughter and applause, she threw an arm round
Veranilda's waist, and drew her on to a curved portico where, in a
niche, stood a statue of Antinous.

'Is that one of their gods, or an emperor?' asked Athalfrida. 'I
have seen his face again and again since we came here.'

'Indeed, I know not,' answered her companion. 'But surely he is too
beautiful for a man.'

'Beautiful? Never say that, child; for if it be as you think, it is
the beauty of a devil, and has led who knows how many into the
eternal fire. Had I a hammer here, I would splinter the evil face. I
would not have my boys look at it and think it beautiful.'

A heavy footstep sounded on the terrace. Turning, they saw Osuin, an
armed giant, with flowing locks, and thick, tawny beard.

'Wife, a word with you,' he shouted, beckoning from some twenty
paces away.

They talked together; then the lady returned, a troubled smile on
her face, and said softly to Veranilda:

'Some one wishes to speak with you--some one who comes with the
king's good-will.'

Veranilda looked towards Osuin.

'You cannot mean--?' she faltered.

'No other,' replied Athalfrida, nodding gaily. 'Are you at leisure?
Some other day, perhaps? I will say you would be private--that you
cannot now give audience.'

This pleasantry brought only the faintest smile to the listener's
face.

'Is it hither that he would come?' she asked, again looking
anxiously towards the ruddy giant, who stamped with a beginning of
impatience.

'If so it please you, little one,' answered Athalfrida, changing all
at once to her softest mood. 'The king leaves all to my discretion,
and I ask nothing better than to do you kindness. Shall it be here,
or within?'

Veranilda whispered 'Here'; whereupon Osuin received a sign, and
stalked off. A few minutes passed, and Athalfrida, who, after
caresses and tender words, had drawn apart, as if to watch her
children playing, beheld the expected visitor. Her curiosity was not
indiscreet; she would have glimpsed the graceful figure, the comely
visage, and then have turned away; but at this moment the new comer
paused, looked about him in hesitation, and at length advanced
towards her. She had every excuse for looking him straight in the
face, and it needed not the pleasant note of his speech to dispose
her kindly towards him.

'Gracious lady, I seek the lady Veranilda, and was bidden come
hither along the terrace.'

Totila's sister had but little of the Latin tongue; now, for perhaps
the first time in her life, she regretted this deficiency. Smiling,
she pointed to a group of cypresses which hid part of the portico,
and her questioner, with a courtly bow, went on. He wore the
ordinary dress of a Roman noble, and had not even a dagger at his
waist. As soon as he had passed the cypresses, he saw, within the
shadow of the portico, the figure his eyes had sought; then he stood
still, and spoke with manly submissiveness.

'It is much that you suffer me to come into your presence, for of
all men, O Veranilda, I am least worthy to do so.'

'How shall I answer you?' she replied, with a sad, simple dignity.
'I know not of what unworthiness you accuse yourself. That you are
most unhappy, I know too well.'

She dared not raise her eyes to him; but in the moment of his
appearance before her, it had gladdened her to see him attired as
when she first knew him. Had he worn the soldierly garb in which he
presented himself at Marcian's villa, the revival of a dread memory
would have pierced her heart. Even as in outward man he was the
Basil she had loved, so did his voice recall that brighter day.

'Unhappy most of all,' he continued, 'in what I least dare speak of.
I have no ground to plead for pardon. What I did, and still more
what I uttered, judge it at the worst. I should but add to my
baseness if I urged excuses.'

'Let us not remember that, I entreat you,' said Veranilda. 'But tell
me, if you will, what has befallen you since?'

'You know nothing of me since then?'

'Nothing.'

'And I nothing of you, save that you were with the Gothic army, and
honourably entertained. The king himself spoke to me of you, when,
after long sickness, I came to his camp. He asked if it was my wish
to see you; but I could not yet dare to stand before your face, and
so I answered him. "It is well," said Totila. "Prove yourself in
some service to the Goths and to your country, then I will speak
with you again." And straightway he charged me with a duty which I
the more gladly undertook because it had some taste of danger. He
bade me enter Rome, and spread through the city a proclamation to
the Roman people--'

'It was you who did that?' interrupted the listener. 'We heard of
its being done, but not by what hand.'

'With a servant whom I can trust, disguised, he and I, as peasants
bringing food to market, I entered Rome, and remained for two days
within the gates; then returned to Totila. He next sent me to learn
the strength of the Greek garrisons in Spoletium and Assisium, and
how those cities were provisioned; this task also, by good hap, I
discharged so as to win some praise. Then the king again spoke to me
of you. And as, before, I had not dared to approach you, so now I
did not dare to wait longer before making known to you my shame and
my repentance.'

'Of what sickness did you speak just now?' asked Veranilda, after a
silence.

He narrated to her his sojourn at the monastery, told of the penance
he had done, of the absolution granted him by Benedict; whereupon a
light came into Veranilda's eyes.

'There lives,' she exclaimed, 'no holier man!'

'None holier lived,' was Basil's grave answer. 'Returning from
Assisium, I met a wandering anchorite, who told me of Benedict's
death.'

'Alas!'

'But is he reverenced by those of your creed?' asked Basil in
surprise.

'Of my creed? My faith is that of the Catholic Church.'

For the first time their eyes met. Basil drew a step nearer; his
face shone with joy, which for a moment held him mute.

'It was in the convent,' added Veranilda, 'that I learnt the truth.
They whom I called my enemies wrought this good to me.'

Basil besought her to tell him how she had been carried away from
Surrentum, and all that had befallen her whilst she was a prisoner;
he declared his ignorance of everything between their last meeting
in the Anician villa and the dreadful day which next brought them
face to face. As he said this, it seemed to him that Veranilda's
countenance betrayed surprise.

'I forget,' he added, his head again falling, 'that your mind has
been filled with doubt of me. How can I convince you that I speak
truly? O Veranilda!' he exclaimed passionately, 'can you look at me,
can you hear me speak, and still believe that I was ever capable of
betraying you?'

'That I never believed,' she answered in a subdued voice.

'Yet I saw in your eyes some doubt, some hesitation.'

'Then it was despite myself. The thought that you planned evil
against me I have ever cast out and abhorred. Why it was said of
you, alas, I know not.'

'What proof was given?' asked Basil, gazing fixedly at her.

'None.'

Her accent did not satisfy him; it seemed to falter.

'Was nothing said,' he urged, 'to make credible so black an
untruth?'

Veranilda stood motionless and silent.

'Speak, I beseech you!' cried Basil, his hands clasped upon his
breast. 'Something there is which shadows your faith in my
sincerity. God knows, I have no right to question you thus--I, who
let my heart be poisoned against you by a breath, a nothing. Rebuke
me as you will; call me by the name I merit; utter all the disdain
you must needs feel for a man so weak and false--'

His speech was checked upon that word. Veranilda had arrested him
with a sudden look, a look of pain, of fear.

'False?' fell from her lips.

'Can _you_ forget it, O Veranilda? Would that I could!'

'In your anger,' she said, 'as when perchance you were already
distraught with fever, you spoke I know not what. Therein you were
not false to me.'

'False to myself; I should have said. To you, never, never! False to
my faith in you, false to my own heart which knew you faithful; but
false as men are called who--'

Again his voice sank. A memory flashed across him, troubling his
brow.

'What else were you told?' he asked abruptly. 'Can it be a woman's
name was spoken? You are silent. Will you not say that this thought,
also, you abhorred and rejected?'

The simple honesty of Veranilda's nature would not allow her to
disguise what she thought. Urging question after question, with
ardour irresistible, Basil learnt all she had been told by Marcian
concerning Heliodora, and, having learnt it, confessed the whole
truth in utter frankness, in the plain, blunt words dictated by his
loathing of the Greek woman with whom he had once played at love.
And, as she listened, Veranilda's heart grew light; for the time
before her meeting with Basil seemed very far away, and the
tremulous passion in his voice assured her of all she cared to know,
that his troth pledged to her had never suffered wrong. Basil spoke
on and on, told of his misery in Rome whilst vainly seeking her; how
he was baffled and misled; how at length, in despair, he left the
city and went to his estate by Asculum. Then of the message received
from Marcian, and how eagerly he set forth to cross the Apennines,
resolved that, if he could not find Veranilda, at least he would
join himself with her people and fight for their king; of his
encounter with the marauding troop, his arrival, worn and fevered,
at Aesernia, his meeting with Sagaris, their interview, and what
followed upon it.

'To this hour I know not whether the man told me what he believed,
or coldly lied to me. He has the face of a villain and may well have
behaved as one--who knows with what end in view? Could I but lay
hands upon him, I would have the truth out of his tongue by torture.
He is in Rome. I saw him come forth from Marcian's house, when I was
there on the king's service; but, of course, I could not speak with
him.'

Veranilda had seated herself within the portico. Basil stood before
her, ever and again meeting her eyes as she looked up.

'Just as little,' he resumed after a pause of troubled thought, 'can
I know whether Marcian believed me a traitor, or himself had a
traitorous mind. The more I think, the less do I understand him. I
hope, I hope with all my heart, that he was innocent, and daily I
pray for his eternal welfare.'

'That is well done, O Basil,' said the listener, for the first time
uttering his name. 'My prayers, too, he shall have. That he was so
willing to credit ill of you, I marvel; and therein he proved
himself no staunch friend. But of all else, he was guiltless.'

'So shall he ever live in my memory,' said Basil. 'Of him I always
found it easier to believe good than evil, for many were the proofs
he had given me of his affection. Had it been otherwise, I should
long before have doubted him; for, when I was seeking you in Rome,
more than once did a finger point to Marcian, as to one who knew
more than he would say. I heard the accusation with scorn, knowing
well that they who breathed it desired to confound me.'

This turned his thoughts again to the beginning of their sorrows;
and again he gently asked of Veranilda that she would relate that
part of her story which remained unknown to him. She, no longer
saddened by the past, looked frankly up into his face, and smiled as
she began. Now first did Basil hear of the anchoret Sisinnius, and
how Aurelia was beguiled into the wood, where capture awaited her.
Of the embarkment at Surrentum, Veranilda had only a confused
recollection: fear and distress re-awoke in her as she tried to
describe the setting forth to sea, and the voyage that followed.
Sisinnius and his monkish follower were in the ship, but held no
speech with their captives. After a day or two of sailing, they
landed at nightfall, but in what place she had never learnt. Still
conducted by the anchorets, they were taken to pass the night in a
large house, where they had good entertainment, but saw only the
female slaves who waited upon them. The next day began a journey by
road; and thus, after more than one weary day, they arrived at the
house of religious women which was to be Veranilda's home for nearly
a twelvemonth.

'I knew not where I was, and no one would answer me that question,
though otherwise I had gentle and kindly usage. Aurelia I saw no
more; we had not even taken leave of each other, for we did not
dream on entering the house that we were to be parted. Whether she
remained under that roof I never learnt. During our journey, she
suffered much, often weeping bitterly, often all but distraught with
anger and despair. Before leaving the ship we were told that, if
either of us tried to escape, we should be fettered, and only the
fear of that indignity kept Aurelia still. Her face, as I remember
its last look, was dreadful, so white and anguished. I have often
feared that, if she were long kept prisoner, she would lose her
senses.'

Basil having heard the story to an end without speaking, made known
the thoughts it stirred in him. They talked of Petronilla and of the
deacon Leander, and sought explanations of Veranilda's release. And,
as thus they conversed, they forgot all that had come between them;
their constraint insensibly passed away; till at length Basil was
sitting by Veranilda's side, and holding her hand, and their eyes
met in a long gaze of love and trust and hope.

'Can you forgive?' murmured Basil, upon whom, in the fulness of his
joy, came the memory of what he deemed his least pardonable sin.

'How can I talk of forgiveness,' she returned, 'when not yours was
the blame, but mine? For I believed--or all but believed--that
you had forgotten me.'

'Beloved, I was guilty of worse than faithlessness. I dread to
think, and still more to speak, of it; yet if I am silent, I spare
myself; and seem, perhaps, to make light of baseness for which there
are no words of fitting scorn. That too, be assured, O Veranilda, I
confessed to the holy Benedict.'

Her bowed head and flushing cheek told him that she understood.

'Basil,' she whispered, 'it was not you, not you.'

'Gladly would I give myself that comfort. When I think, indeed, that
this hand was raised to take my friend's life, I shake with horror
and say, "Not _I_ did that!" Even so would I refuse to charge my
very self with those words that my lips uttered. But to you they
were spoken; you heard them; you fled before them--'

'Basil! Basil!'

She had hidden her face with her hands. Basil threw himself upon his
knees beside her.

'Though I spoke in madness, can you ever forget? God Himself, I
know, will sooner blot out my sin of murder than this wound I
inflicted upon your pure and gentle heart!'

Veranilda caught his hand and pressed her lips upon it, whilst her
tears fell softly.

'Listen, dearest Basil,' she said. 'To think that I guard this in my
memory against you would be to do me wrong. Remember how first I
spoke to you about it, when we first knew that we loved each other.
Did I not tell you that this was a thing which could never be quite
forgotten? Did I not know that, if ever I sinned, or seemed to sin,
_this_ would be the first rebuke upon the lips of those I angered?
Believing me faithless--nay, not you, beloved, but your fevered
brain--how could you but think that thought? And, even had you not
spoken it, must I not have read it in your face? Never ask me to
forgive what you could not help. Rather, O Basil, will I entreat
you, even as I did before, to bear with the shame inseparable from
my being. If it lessen not your love, have I not cause enough for
thankfulness?'

Hearing such words as these, in the sweetest, tenderest voice that
ever caressed a lover's senses, Basil knew not how to word all that
was in his heart. Passion spoke for him, and not in vain; for in a
few moments Veranilda's tears were dry, or lingered only to glisten
amid the happy light which beamed from her eyes. Side by side,
forgetful of all but their recovered peace, they talked sweet
nothings, until there sounded from far a woman's voice, calling the
name of Veranilda.

'That is Athalfrida,' she said, starting up. 'I must not delay.'

One whisper, one kiss, and she was gone. When Basil, after brief
despondency came forth on to the open terrace, he saw her at a
distance, standing with Athalfrida and Osuin. Their looks invited
him to approach, and, when he was near, Veranilda stepped towards
him.

'It will not be long,' she said calmly, 'before we again meet. The
lord Osuin promises, and he speaks for the king.'

Basil bowed in silence. The great-limbed warrior and his fair wife
had their eyes upon him, and were smiling good-naturedly. Then Osuin
spoke in thick-throated Latin.

'Shall we be gone, lord Basil?'

From the end of the terrace, Basil looked back. Athalfrida stood
with her arm about the maiden's waist; both gazed towards him, and
Veranilda waved her hand.





CHAPTER XXIX

ROME BELEAGUERED




A few days later the guards at the Tiburtine Gate of Rome were
hailed, before dawn, by a number of Greek soldiers in the disarray
of flight. It was a portion of the garrison of Tibur: the town had
been betrayed at sunset, by certain of its inhabitants who watched
at one of the gates. The soldiers fought their way through and most
of them escaped, and had fled hither through the darkness. Before
the end of the day came news more terrible. A peasant from a
neighbouring farm declared that all the people of Tibur, men, women,
and children, had perished under the Gothic sword, not even
ministers of religion having found mercy. And very soon this report,
at first doubted, was fully confirmed. The event excited no less
astonishment than horror, contrasting as it did with Totila's
humanity throughout the war. Some offered as explanation the fact
that many Goths lived at Tibur, whose indifference or hostility had
angered the king; others surmised that this was Totila's warning
after the failure of his proclamation to the Romans. Whatever the
meaning of such unwonted severity, its effect upon the Romans was
unfavourable to the Gothic cause. Just about this time there
happened to arrive two captains, sent by Belisarius with a small
troop for the reinforcement of Bessas. The addition to the strength
of the garrison was inconsiderable, but it served to put the city in
heart once more. The Patricius himself would not be long in coming,
and when did the name of Belisarius sound anything but victory?

This confidence increased when Totila, instead of marching upon
Rome, as all had expected, turned in the opposite direction, and led
his forces across the Apennines. The gates were thrown open; the
citizens resumed their ordinary life, saying to each other that all
fear of a siege was at an end; and when certain ships from Sicily,
having by good luck escaped the Gothic galleys, landed a good supply
of corn, there was great exultation. True, only a scanty measure of
this food reached the populace, and that chiefly by the good offices
of the archdeacon Pelagius, now become as dear to the people as Pope
Vigilius was hateful; the granaries were held by Bessas, who first
of all fed his soldiers, and then sold at a great price. As winter
went on, the Romans suffered much. And with the spring came
disquieting news of Totila's successes northwards: the towns of
Picenum had yielded to him; he was moving once more in this
direction; he captured Spoletium, Assisium, and still came on.

Belisarius, meanwhile, had crossed to Italy, and was encamped at
Ravenna. Why, asked the Romans, impatiently, anxiously, did he not
march to meet the Gothic king? But the better informed knew that his
army was miserably insufficient; they heard of his ceaseless appeals
to Byzantium, of his all but despair in finding himself without
money, without men, in the land which but a few years ago had seen
his glory. Would the Emperor take no thought for Italy, for Rome?
Bessas, with granaries well stored, and his palace heaped with Roman
riches, shrugged when the nobles spoke disrespectfully of Justinian;
his only loyalty was to himself.

At high summertide, the Gothic camp was pitched before Rome, and the
siege anticipated for so many months had at length begun. For
whatever reason, Totila had never attempted to possess himself of
Portus, which guarded the mouth of the river Tiber on the north bank
and alone made possible the provisioning of the city. Fearing that
this stronghold would now be attacked, Bessas despatched a body of
soldiers to strengthen its garrison; but they fell into a Gothic
ambush, and were cut to pieces. Opposite Portus, and separated from
it by a desert island, on either side of which Tiber flowed to the
sea, lay the ancient town of Ostia, once the port of the world's
traffic, now ruinous and scarce inhabited. Here Totila established
an outpost; but he did not otherwise threaten the harbour on the
other side. His purpose evidently was to avoid all conflict which
would risk a reduction of the Gothic army, and by patient blockade
to starve the Romans into surrender.

He could not surround the city, with its circuit of twelve miles; he
could not keep ceaseless watch upon the sixteen gates and the
numerous posterns. King Vitiges, in his attempt to do so, had
suffered terrible losses. It was inevitable that folk should pass in
and out of Rome. But from inland no supplies could be expected by
the besieged, and any ship sailing up to Portus would have little
chance of landing its cargo safely. Before long, indeed, this was
put to proof. The Pope, whose indecision still kept him lingering in
Sicily, nearly a twelvemonth after his departure from Rome for
Constantinople, freighted a vessel with corn for the relief of the
city, and its voyage was uninterrupted as far as the Tiber's mouth.
There it became an object of interest, not only to the Greeks on the
walls of Portus, but to the Gothic soldiers at. Ostia, who forthwith
crossed in little boats, and lay awaiting the ship at the entrance
to the haven. Observant of this stratagem, the garrison, by all
manner of signalling, tried to warn the sailors of the danger
awaiting them; but their signals were misunderstood, being taken for
gestures of eager welcome; and the ship came on. With that lack of
courage which characterised them, the Greeks did nothing more than
wave arms and shout: under their very eyes, the corn-ship was
boarded by the Goths, and taken into Ostia.

Of courage, indeed, as of all other soldierly virtues, little enough
was exhibited, at this stage of the war, on either side. The
Imperial troops scattered about Italy, ill-paid, and often starving
mercenaries from a score of Oriental countries, saw no one ready to
lead them to battle, and the one Byzantine general capable of
commanding called vainly for an army. Wearied by marchings and
counter-marchings, the Gothic warriors were more disposed to rest
awhile after their easy conquests than to make a vigorous effort for
the capture of Rome. Totila himself, heroic redeemer of his nation,
turned anxious glances towards Ravenna, hoping, rather than
resolving, to hold his state upon the Palatine before Belisarius
could advance against him. He felt the fatigue of those about him,
and it was doubtless under the stress of such a situation, bearing
himself the whole burden of the war, that he had ordered, or
permitted, barbarous revenge upon the city of Tibur. For this reason
he would not, even now, centre all his attention upon the great
siege; he knew what a long, dispiriting business it was likely to
be, and feared to fall into that comparative idleness. Soon after
the incident of the Sicilian corn-ship, he was once more commanding
in the north, where a few cities yet held out against him. Dreadful
stories were told concerning the siege of Placentia, whose
inhabitants were said to have eaten the bodies of their dead ere
they yielded to the Goth. So stern a spirit of resistance was found
only in places where religious zeal and national sentiment both
existed in their utmost vigour, and Totila well knew that, of these
two forces ever threatening to make his conquests vain, it was from
religion that he had most to fear. In vain was the history of Gothic
tolerance known throughout Italy; it created no corresponding virtue
in the bosom of Catholicism; the barbaric origin of the Goths might
be forgotten or forgiven, their heresy--never.

Totila, whose qualities of heart and mind would have made him, could
he but have ruled in peace, a worthy successor of the great
Theodoric, had reflected much on this question of the hostile
creeds; he had talked of it with ministers of his own faith and with
those of the orthodox church; and it was on this account that he had
sought an interview with the far-famed monk of Casinum.
Understanding the futility of any hope that the Italians might be
won to Arianism, and having sufficient largeness of intellect to
perceive how idle was a debate concerning the 'substance' of the
Father and of the Son, Totila must at times have felt willing enough
to renounce the heretical name, and so win favour of the Italians,
the greater part of whom would assuredly have preferred his rule to
that of the Emperor Justinian. But he knew the religious obstinacy
of his own people; to imagine their following him in a conversion to
Catholicism was but to dream. Pondering thus, he naturally regarded
with indulgence the beautiful and gentle Gothic maiden delivered
into his power. by a scheming Roman ecclesiastic. After his
conversations with Veranilda, he had a pensive air; and certain
persons who observed him remarked on it to each other, whence arose
the rumour that Totila purposed taking to wife this last descendant
of the Amals. Whatever his temptations, he quickly overcame them. If
ever he thought of marriage, policy and ambition turned his mind
towards the royal Franks; but the time for that had not yet come.
Meanwhile, having spoken with the young Roman whom Veranilda loved,
he saw in Basil a useful instrument, and resolved, if his loyalty to
the Goths bore every test, to reward him with Veranilda's hand. The
marriage would be of good example, and might, if the Gothic arms
remained triumphant, lead to other such.

After the meeting at Hadrian's villa which he granted to the lovers,
Totila summoned Basil to his presence. Regarding him with a
good-natured smile, he said pleasantly:

'Your face has a less doleful cast than when I first saw it.'

'That,' answered Basil, 'is due in no small degree to the gracious
favour of my king.'

'Continue to merit my esteem, lord Basil, and proof of my good-will
shall not be wanting. But the time for repose and solace is not yet.
To-morrow you will go with Venantius to Capua, and thence, it may
be, into Apulia.'

Basil bowed in silence. He had hoped that the siege of Rome was now
to be undertaken, and that this would ensure his remaining near to
Veranilda. But the loyalty he professed to Totila was no less in his
heart than on his lips, and after a moment's struggle he looked up
with calm countenance.

'Have you aught to ask of me?' added Totila, after observing his
face.

'This only, O king: that if occasion offer, I may send written news
of myself to her I love.'

'That is a little thing,' was the answer, 'and I grant it
willingly.'

Totila paused a moment; then, his blue eyes shining with a vehement
thought, added gravely:

'When we speak together within the walls of Rome, ask more, and it
shall not be refused.'

So Basil rode southward, and happily was far away when Tibur opened
its gates to the Goth. For more than half a year he and Venantius
were busy in maintaining the Gothic rule throughout Lucania and
Apulia, where certain Roman nobles endeavoured to raise an army of
the peasantry in aid of the Greek invasion constantly expected upon
the Adriatic shore. When at length he was recalled, the siege of
Rome had begun. The Gothic ladies now resided at Tibur, where a
garrison was established; there Basil and Veranilda again met, and
again only for an hour. But their hopes were high, and scarce could
they repine at the necessity of parting so soon. Already in a
letter, Basil had spoken of the king's promise; he now repeated it,
whilst Veranilda flushed with happiness.

'And you remain before Rome?' she asked.

'Alas, no! I am sent to Ravenna, to spy out the strength of
Belisarius.'

But Rome was besieged, and so hateful had Bessas made himself to the
Roman people that it could not be long ere some plot among them
delivered the city.

'Then,' cried Basil exultantly, 'I shall ask my reward.'





CHAPTER XXX

* * * *




On a winter's day, at the hour of sundown, Heliodora sat in her
great house on the Quirinal, musing sullenly. Beside her a brazier
of charcoal glowed in the dusk, casting a warm glimmer upon the
sculptured forms which were her only companions; she was wrapped in
a scarlet cloak, with a hood which shadowed her face. All day the
sun had shone brilliantly, but it glistened afar on snowy summits,
and scarce softened the mountain wind which blew through the streets
of Rome.

To divert a hungry populace, now six months besieged, Bessas was
offering entertainments such as suited the Saturnalian season.
To-day he had invited Rome to the Circus Maximus, where, because no
spectacle could be provided imposing enough to fill the whole vast
space, half a dozen shows were presented simultaneously; the
spectators grouped here and there, in number not a fiftieth part of
that assembly which thundered at the chariots in olden time. Here
they sat along the crumbling, grass-grown, and, as their nature was,
gladly forgot their country's ruin, their own sufferings, and the
doom which menaced them. Equestrians, contortionists, mimes,
singers, were readily found in the city, where a brave or an honest
man had become rare indeed. What a performance lacked in art, he
supplied by shamelessness; and nowhere was laughter so hearty, or
the crowd so dense, as in that part of the circus where comic
singers and dancers vied with the grossest traditions of the pagan
theatre.

Heliodora could not miss such an opportunity of enjoyment and of
display. She sat amid her like, the feline ladies and the young
nobles, half brute, half fop, who though already most of them fasted
without the merit of piety, still prided themselves on being the
flower of Roman fashion. During one of the pauses of the festival,
when places were changed, and limbs stretched, some one whispered to
her that she was invited to step towards that place of honour where
sat the Emperor's representative. An invitation of Bessas could not
lightly be declined, nor had Heliodora any reluctance to obey such a
summons. More than a year had gone by since her vain attempt, on
Marcian's suggestion, to enslave the avaricious Thracian, and, since
then, the hapless Muscula had had more than one successor. Roman
gossip, always busy with the fair Greek, told many a strange story
to account for her rigour towards the master of Rome, who was well
known to have made advances to her. So when to-day they were seen
sitting side by side, conversing vivaciously, curiosity went on
tiptoe. The entertainment over, Heliodora was carried home in her
litter, no friend accompanying her. Few nowadays were the persons in
Rome who bade guests to their table; even the richest had no great
superfluity of viands. After sunset, the city became a dark and
silent desert, save when watch-fires glared and soldiers guarded the
walls.

As was the case with all Romans who not long ago had commanded a
multitude of slaves and freedmen, Heliodora's household was much
reduced. Even before the siege began, many of the serving class
stole away to the Goths, who always received them with a welcome;
and since the closing of the gates this desertion had been of daily
occurrence, the fugitives having little difficulty in making their
escape from so vast a city so sparsely populated. No longer did the
child from far-off Anglia ride about on his mistress's errands; a
female slave, punished for boxing his ears, had stifled him as he
slept, and fled that night with five or six others who were tired of
the lady's caprices and feared her cruelty. Her aviary was empty.
Having wearied of that whim, she had let the birds loose; a
generosity she regretted now that toothsome morsels were rare. In
her strong box there remained little money, and the estate she owned
in a distant part of Italy might as well have been sunk in the sea
for all the profit it could yield her. True, she had objects of
value, such as were daily accepted by Bessas in exchange for corn
and pork; but, if it came to that extremity, could not better use be
made of the tough-skinned commander? Heliodora had no mind to
support herself on bread and pork whilst food more appetising might
still be got.

It was all but dark. She rang a hand-bell and was answered by a
maidservant.

'Has Sagaris returned yet?' she asked impatiently.

'Lady, not yet.'

Heliodora kept silence for a moment, then bade the girl bring her a
lamp. A very small lamp was set upon the table, and as she glanced
at its poor flame, Heliodora remembered that the store of oil was
nearly at an end.

Again she had sat alone for nearly half an hour, scarcely stirring,
so intent was she on the subject of her thoughts, when a light
footfall sounded without, and the curtain at the door was raised.
She turned and saw a dark countenance, which smiled upon her coldly.

'Where have you been?' broke angrily from her lips.

'Hither and thither,' was the softly insolent reply, as Sagaris let
the curtain fall behind him and stepped forward to the brazier, over
which he held out his hands to warm them.

By his apparel, he might have been mistaken for a noble.

Nominally he had for a year held the office of steward to Heliodora.
That his functions were not, as a matter of fact, all comprised
under that name was well known to all in the house, and to some
beyond its walls.

'Were you at the Circus?' she next inquired, using the large hood to
avoid his gaze without seeming to do so.

'I was there, gracious lady. Not, of course, in such an exalted
place as that in which I saw _you_.'

'I did not choose that place,' said Heliodora, her voice almost
conciliatory. 'Being sent for, I could not refuse to go.'

Sagaris set a stool near to his mistress, seated himself, and looked
up into her face. She, for an instant, bore it impatiently, but of a
sudden her countenance changed, and she met the gaze with a
half-mocking smile.

'Is this one of your jealous days?' she asked, with what was meant
for playfulness, though the shining of her eyes and teeth in the
lamplight gave the words rather an effect of menace.

'Perhaps it is,' answered the Syrian. 'What did Bessas say to you?'

'Many things. He ended by asking me to sup at the palace. You will
own that the invitation was tempting.'

Sagaris glared fiercely at her, and drew upon himself a look no less
fierce.

'Fool!' she exclaimed, once more speaking in a natural voice. 'How
shall we live a month hence? Have you a mind to steal away to the
Goths? If you do so, you can't expect me to starve here alone.
Thick-willed slave! Can you see no further than the invitation to
sup with that thievish brute?--which I should have accepted, had I
not foreseen the necessity of explaining to your dulness all that
might follow upon it.'

Esteeming himself the shrewdest of mankind, Sagaris deeply resented
these insults, not for the first time thrown at him by the woman
whom he regarded with an Oriental passion and contempt.

'Of course I know what you mean,' he replied disdainfully. 'I know,
too, that you will be no match for the Thracian robber.'

Heliodora caught his arm.

'What if I can make him believe that Belisarius has the Emperor's
command to send him in chains to Constantinople! Would he not rather
come to terms with Totila, who, as I know well, long ago offered to
let him carry off half his plunder?'

'You know that? How?'

'Clod-pate I Have you forgotten your master whom Basil slew? Did I
not worm out of him, love-sick simpleton that he was, all the
secrets of his traffic with Greeks and Goths?'

Again they glanced at each other like wild creatures before the
leap.

'Choose,' said Heliodora. 'Leave me free to make your fortune, for
Totila is generous to those who serve him well; or stay here and spy
upon me till your belly pinches, and the great opportunity of your
life is lost.'

There was a silence. The Syrian's features showed how his mind was
rocking this way and that.

'You have not cunning for this,' he snarled. 'The Thracian will use
you and laugh at you. And when you think to come back to me. . . .'

He touched the dagger at his waist.

In that moment there came confused sounds from without the room.
Suddenly the curtain was pulled aside, and there appeared the face
of a frightened woman, who exclaimed: 'Soldiers, lady, soldiers are
in the house!'

Heliodora started up. Sagaris, whose hand was still on the dagger's
hilt, grasped her by the mantle, his look and attitude so like that
of a man about to strike that she sprang away from him with a loud
cry. Again the curtain was raised, and there entered hurriedly
several armed men. Their leader looked with a meaning grin at the
lady and her companion, who now stood apart from each other.

'Pardon our hasty entrance, fair Heliodora,' he said in Greek. 'The
commander has need of you--on pressing business.'

'The commander must wait my leisure,' she replied with a note of
indignation over-emphasised.

'Nay, that he cannot,' returned the officer, leering at Sagaris. 'He
is even now at supper, and will take it ill if you be not there when
he rises from table. A litter waits.'

Not without much show of wrath did Heliodora yield. As she left the
room, her eyes turned to Sagaris, who had shrunk into a corner,
coward fear and furious passion distorting his face. The lady having
been borne away, a few soldiers remained in the house, where they
passed the night. On the morrow Bessas himself paid a visit to that
famous museum of sculpture, and after an inspection, which left no
possible hiding-place unsearched, sent away to the Palatine
everything that seemed to him worth laying hands upon.

Meanwhile the domestics had all been held under guard. Sagaris, who
heard his relations with Heliodora jested over by the slaves and
soldiers, passed a night of terror, and when he knew of the
commander's arrival, scarce had strength to stand. To his surprise,
nothing ill befell him. During the pillage of the house he was
disregarded, and when Bessas had gone he only had to bear the scoffs
of his fellow-slaves. These unfortunates lived together as long as
the scant provisions lasted, then scattered in search of sustenance.
The great house on the Quirinal stood silent, left to its denizens
of marble and of bronze.

Sagaris, who suspected himself to have been tricked by Heliodora in
the matter of her removal to the Palatine, and had not the least
faith in her power to beguile Bessas, swore by all the saints that
the day of his revenge should come; but for the present he had to
think of how to keep himself alive. Money he had none; it was idle
to hope of attaching himself to another household, and unless he
escaped to the Goths, there was no resource but to beg from one or
other of those few persons who, out of compassion and for their
souls' sake, gave alms to the indigent. Wandering in a venomous
humour, he chanced to approach the Via Lata, and out of curiosity
turned to the house of Marcian. Not knowing whether it was still
inhabited, he knocked at the door, and was surprised to hear a dog's
bark, for nearly all the dogs in Rome had already been killed and
eaten. The wicket opened, and a voice spoke which he well
remembered.

'You alive still, old Stephanus? Who feeds you? Open and teach me
the art of living on nothing.'

He who opened looked indeed the image of Famine--a fleshless,
tottering creature, with scarce strength left to turn the key in the
door. His only companions in the house were his daughter and the
dog. Till not long ago there had been also the daughter's child,
whom she had borne to Marcian, but this boy was dead.

'I'm glad to see you,' said Stephanus mysteriously, drawing his
visitor into the atrium, and speaking as if the house were full of
people who might overhear him. 'Your coming to-day is a strange
thing. Have you, perchance, had a dream?'

'What dream should I have had?' answered Sagaris, his superstition
at once stirring.

The old man related that last night, for the third time, he had
dreamt that a treasure lay buried in this house. Where he could not
say, but in his dream he seemed to descend stairs, and to reach a
door which, when he opened it, showed him a pile of gold, shining in
so brilliant a light that he fell back blinded, whereupon the door
closed in his face. To this the Syrian listened very curiously.
Cellars there were below the house, as he well knew, and hidden
treasure was no uncommon thing in Rome. Having bidden Stephanus
light a torch, he went exploring, but though they searched long,
they could find no trace of a door long unopened, or of a walled-up
entrance.

'You should have more wit in your dreaming, old scarecrow,' said
Sagaris. 'If I had had a dream such as that a second time, not to
speak of a third, do you think I should not have learnt the way. But
you were always a clod-pate.'

Thus did he revenge himself for the contumely he had suffered from
Heliodora. As he spoke they were joined by the old man's daughter,
who, after begging at many houses, returned with a pocketful of
lentils. The girl had been pretty, but was now emaciated and
fever-burnt; she looked with ill-will at Sagaris, whom she believed,
as did others of his acquaintance, to have murdered Marcian, and to
have invented the story of his death at the hands of Basil. Well
understanding this, Sagaris amused himself with jesting on the loss
of her beauty; why did she not go to the Palatine, where handsome
women were always welcome? Having driven her away with his
brutality, he advised Stephanus to keep silent about the treasure,
and promised to come again ere long.

He now turned his steps to the other side of Tiber, and, after
passing through poor streets, where some show of industries was
still kept up by a few craftsmen, though for the most part folk sat
or lay about in sullen idleness, came to those grinding-mills on the
slope of the Janiculum which were driven by Trajan's aqueduct. Day
and night the wheels made their clapping noise, seeming to clamour
for the corn which did not come. At the door of one of the mills, a
spot warmed by the noonday sun, sat a middle-aged man, wretchedly
garbed, who with a burnt stick was drawing what seemed to be
diagrams on the stone beside him. At the sound of a footstep, rare
in that place, he hastily smeared out his designs, and looking up
showed a visage which bore a racial resemblance to that of Sagaris.
Recognising the visitor, he smiled, pointed to the ground in
invitation, and when Sagaris had placed himself near by, began
talking in the tongue of their own Eastern land. This man, who
called himself Apollonius, had for some years enjoyed reputation in
Rome as an astrologer, thereby gaining much money; and even in these
dark days he found people who were willing to pay him, either in
coin or food, for his counsel and prophecies. Fearful of drawing
attention upon himself, as one who had wealth in store, he had come
to live like a beggar in this out-of-the-way place, where his money
was securely buried, and with it a provision of corn, peas, and
lentils which would keep him alive for a long time. Apollonius was
the only man living whom Sagaris, out of reverence and awe, would
have hesitated to rob, and the only man to whom he did not lie. For
beside being learned in the stars, an interpreter of dreams, a
prophet of human fate, Apollonius spoke to those he could trust of a
religion, of sacred mysteries, much older, he said, and vastly more
efficacious for the soul's weal than the faith in Christ. To this
religion Sagaris also inclined, for it was associated with memories
of his childhood in the East; if he saw the rising of the sun, and
was unobserved, he bowed himself before it, with various other
observances of which he had forgotten the meaning.

His purpose in coming hither was to speak of Stephanus's dream. The
astrologer listened very attentively, and, after long brooding,
consented to use his art for the investigation of the matter.

* * * *


End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Veranilda
by George Gissing