Goisvintha, the
army, the besieged city, the abandoned suburbs, seemed to hem him in
like a circle of shadowy and threatening judgments; and in the midst of
them stood the young denizen of Rome, with her eloquent countenance and
her inspiring words, ready to hurry him, he knew not whither, and able
to influence him, he felt not how.
Unconsciously interpreting her companion's silence into a wish to change
the scene and the discourse, Antonina, after lingering over the view
from the garden for a moment longer, led the way back towards the
untenanted house. They removed the wooden padlock from the door of the
dwelling, and guided by the brilliant moonlight, entered its principal
apartment.
The homely adornments of the little room had remained undisturbed, and
dimly distinguishable though they now were, gave it to the eyes of the
two strangers, the same aspect of humble comfort which had probably once
endeared it to its exiled occupants. As Hermanric seated himself by
Antonina's side on the simple couch which made the principal piece of
furniture in the place, and looked forth from the window over the same
view that they had beheld in the garden, the magic stillness and novelty
of the scene now began to affect his slow perceptions, as they had
already influenced the finer and more sensitive faculties of the
thoughtful girl.
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