But she must come alone; were she accompanied,
even at a distance, by any attendant, Sisinnius would refuse to see
her. To all the conditions Aurelia readily consented, and bade the
monk meet her at the appointed hour by the breach in her garden
wall.
On the morrow there was no glory of sunrise; clouds hung heavy, and
a sobbing wind shook the dry leaves of the vine. But at the second
hour, after pretence of idling about the garden, Aurelia saw
approach the black, bowed figure, with a gesture bade him go before,
and followed. She was absent not long enough to excite the remark of
her household. In going forth she had been pale with agitation; at
her return she had a fire in her cheeks, a lustre in her eyes, which
told of hopes abundantly fulfilled. At once she sought Veranilda, to
whom she had not yet spoken of the monk's visit. At this juncture
the coming even of an ordinary priest of the Arian faith would have
been more than welcome to them, living as they perforce did without
office or sacrament; but Sisinnius, declared Aurelia, was a
veritable man of God, one who had visions and saw into the future,
one whom merely to behold was a sacred privilege.
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