'Scoundrel, you dare to lie to me! So you started from the villa and
not from Rome?'
Sagaris cried out for mercy, grovelled on the floor. He would tell
everything; but he implored Basil to keep the secret, for, did his
master learn what had happened, his punishment would be terrible.
'Fool!' cried Basil fiercely. 'How come you to have forgotten all at
once that I am your lord's chosen friend, and that everything
concerning him is safe with me. In very deed, I think you have
ridden too hard in the sun; your brains must have frizzled.
Blockhead! If in haste, the lord Marcian did not speak of me, he
took it for granted that, should you meet me--'
Something so like a malicious smile flitted over the slave's
countenance that in extremity of wrath he became mute.
'Your Nobility is deceived,' said Sagaris, in the same moment. 'My
lord expressly forbade me to tell you the truth, should I see you on
my journey.'
Basil stared at him.
'I swear by the holy Cross,' exclaimed the other, 'that this is
true. And if I did not dread your anger, I could tell you the
reason.
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