'Cousin,' he resumed, 'I have a double thought in desiring that
Venantius should come hither. It is not only that I may talk with
him of the war, and learn his hopes, but that I may secure a safe
retreat for Veranilda when she is my wife, and for you, dear cousin,
if you desire it.'
He spoke as strongly as he could without revealing the secret
danger, of the risks to which they would all be exposed when rumours
of his marriage reached the governor of Cumae, or the Greeks in
Neapolis. Until the Goths reached Campania, a Roman here who fell
under suspicion of favouring them must be prepared either to flee or
to defend himself. Defence of this villa was impossible even against
the smallest body of soldiers, but within the walls, raised and
fortified by Venantius, a long siege might be safely sustained.
'It is true,' said Aurelia at length, as if rousing herself from her
abstraction, 'that we must think of safety. But you are not yet
wedded.'
'A few days hence I shall be.'
'Have you forgotten,' she resumed, meeting his resolute smile, 'what
still divides you from Veranilda?'
'You mean the difference of religion.
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