Arise, then, O Basil, ere it be
too late.'
The listener rose from his recumbent attitude; he was stirred by
this unwonted vigour in Decius, but not yet did resolve appear on
his countenance.
'Did I but know,' he murmured, 'that Veranilda is not in Rome!'
Innumerable times had he said it; the thought alone held him inert.
Impossible to discover, spite of all his efforts, whether Veranilda
had been delivered to the Greeks, or still lay captive in some place
known to the deacon Leander. From the behaviour of Bessas nothing
could be certainly deduced: it was now a long time since he had sent
for Basil, and Marcian, though believing that the commander's search
was still futile, had no more certainty than his friend. Soon after
Petronilla's death, the Anician mansion had been thoroughly pillaged
and everything of value removed to the Palatine. Bessas condescended
to justify this proceeding: having learnt, he said, that the
question of Aurelia's orthodoxy lay in doubt, some declaring that
she was a heretic, some that she had returned to orthodoxy before
her father's death, he took charge of the property which might be
hers until she appeared to claim it, when, having the testament of
Maximus in his hand, he would see that justice was done.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274