Only by conscious effort could these two subdue their visages to a
becoming sadness; for Basil thought of his marriage, Decius of Rome
and his library. Nor did Petronilla wear an aspect of very profound
gloom; at moments she forgot herself, and a singular animation
appeared on her proud features; it was as though some exultancy took
hold of her mind.
That Aurelia held apart, that the daughter gave no testimony of
reverence for a father's remains, caused such murmuring in the crowd
of Surrentines: her heresy seemed to be made more notorious, more
abominable, by this neglect. At Surrentum, Arianism had never been
known; no Goth had ever dwelt here; and since Aurelia's arrival
public opinion had had time to gather force against her. It was
believed that she had driven forth with insults the most noble
Petronilla, that exemplar of charity and of a saintly life. Worse
still was the rumour, now generally believed, that the Senator's
daughter had obtained her inheritance by wicked hypocrisy, by a
false show of return to the true faith. Being herself so evil, it
was not to be wondered that she corrupted those who fell under her
influence; the young lord Basil, for instance, who, incredible as it
sounded, was said to be on the point of espousing a Gothic damsel, a
mysterious attendant upon Aurelia, of whom strange stories were
rife.
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