'
'I see not how that concerns me,' said Basil wearily.
'True, it may not. Yet, if I were wooing a wife, I had rather seek
her at the hands of Totila than at those of Justinian. To be sure, I
did not speak of you to the king; that would have been less than
discreet. But Totila will ere long be lord of all Italy, and who
knows but the deacon Leander, no friend of Constantinople, might see
his interest and his satisfaction in yielding Veranilda rather to
the Goth than to the Greek?'
Basil started. Such a thought had never entered his mind, yet he saw
probability in the suggestion.
'You assure me,' he said, 'that she has not yet been surrendered. I
find that hard to believe. Knowing in whose power she is, how comes
it that Bessas does not seize the insolent Leander, and force the
truth from him? Were I the commander, would I be baffled for an hour
by that sleek deacon?'
'Were you commander, O best Basil,' replied Marcian, smiling, 'you
would see things in another light. Bessas does not lay hands upon
the deacon because it is much more to his profit to have the clergy
of Rome for his friends than for his enemies.
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