Whether Veranilda be
discovered or not, he cares little; I began to suspect that when I
saw that you came off so easily from your dealings with him. 'Tis a
long road to Constantinople, and the Thracian well knows that he may
perchance never travel it again. His one care is to heap up treasure
for to-day; the morrow may look after itself. But let us return to
the point from which we started. Do you think in earnest of voyaging
to the Bosporus?'
'I should only choose a hazard so desperate were it the sole chance
that remained of recovering Veranilda.'
'Wait, then, yet awhile. But take my counsel, and do not wait in
Rome.'
To this advice Basil gave willing ear. Since he had heard from
Pelagius that he was free to quit the city, he was all but resolved
to be gone. One thought alone detained him; he still imagined that
Heliodora might have means such as she professed of aiding him in
his search, and that, no matter how, he might subdue her will to his
own. She, of course, aimed only at enslaving him, and he knew her
capable of any wickedness in the pursuit of her ends; for this very
reason was he tempted into the conflict with her, a conflict in
which his passions would have no small part, and whether for or
against him could not be foreseen.
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