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.
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