'
'I well understand, dear lady,' replied her companion. 'Rome has
never been loyal to the Goths. And yet some Romans have.'
'How many? To be sure, you know one, and in your thought he stands
for a multitude. Come, you must not be angry with me, child. Nay,
vexed, then. Nay then, hurt and sad. I am not myself to-day. I
dreamt last night of the snowy mountains, and this warmth oppresses
me. In truth, I often fear I shall fall sick. Feel my hand, how hot
it is. Where are the children? Let us walk.'
Not far away she discovered three little boys, two of them her own,
who were playing at battles and sieges upon stairs which descended
from this terrace to the hippodrome below. After watching them
awhile, with laughter and applause, she threw an arm round
Veranilda's waist, and drew her on to a curved portico where, in a
niche, stood a statue of Antinous.
'Is that one of their gods, or an emperor?' asked Athalfrida. 'I
have seen his face again and again since we came here.'
'Indeed, I know not,' answered her companion. 'But surely he is too
beautiful for a man.
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