The fumes of the wine he had
imbibed at the banquet had been so thoroughly resuscitated by the
oppressive atmosphere of the subterranean retreat he had just quitted,
as to have left him nothing of his more refined nature. All that was
honourable or intellectual in his character had now completely ceded to
all that was base and animal. He looked round, and perceiving that
Ulpius had silently quitted him, softly closed the door. Then advancing
to the bedside with the utmost caution compatible with the involuntary
unsteadiness of an intoxicated man, he took the lamp from the vase in
which it was half concealed, and earnestly surveyed by its light the
figure of the sleeping girl.
The head of Antonina was thrown back and rested rather over than on her
pillow. Her light linen dress had become so disordered during the night
that it displayed her throat and part of her bosom, in all the dawning
beauties of their youthful formation, to the gaze of the licentious
Roman. One hand half supported her head, and was almost entirely hidden
in the locks of her long black hair, which had escaped from the white
cincture intended to confine it, and now streamed over the pillow in
dazzling contrast to the light bed-furniture around it.
Pages:
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262