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.
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