'
'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.
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