'Basil, check your tongue, which I see will be your greatest peril.
Do not confide in me, for I know not whether I can respect your
confidence. Let us speak of other things.'
The younger man stood for a moment in hesitancy, his cheeks aflame,
his eyes fiercely gleaming.
'As you will,' he exclaimed, mastering himself. 'When the others are
here, you will learn all that it concerns you to know. Remember,
Gordian, that I would have opened my heart to you, for, whatever I
said, I know well that you are no betrayer. As for that woman--'
He was interrupted by the arrival of several persons, old and young,
who appeared in answer to his summons. Having received them with
colder courtesy than was natural to him, Basil produced the
testament of Maximus, and submitted it to his kinsmen's inspection.
The tablets passed from hand to hand; the signatures and seals of
the seven witnesses were examined, the contents read and discussed.
Meanwhile guests continued to arrive, until a considerable
gathering, which included several ladies, had assembled in the great
hall. Here was represented all that deemed itself best and most
illustrious in the society of Rome.
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