.

"It was only some one demanding admittance," said the ostiarius, as he
returned and unlocked the door of the room intended for the fugitive
Princess.

The close air of a chamber which had not been opened for a long time
half suffocated her; but she recognised with emotion the tortoise-shell
lining of the walls; it was the same room which she had occupied twenty
years ago.

Overpowered by the recollection, she sank upon the small couch, which
was covered with dark-coloured cushions.

Dismissing the two men, she drew close the curtains of the couch, and
soon sank into an uneasy slumber.

CHAPTER VI.

Thus she lay, she knew not how long, half awake, half dreaming; picture
after picture arose in her excited mind.

Eutharic with the expression of constant pain upon his lips--Athalaric
as he lay stretched upon his bier, he seemed to sign to her--the
reproachful face of Mataswintha--then mist and clouds and leafless
trees--then three angry warriors with pale faces and bloody
garments--and the blind ferryman in the realm of shades.

At another time it seemed to her as if she lay on the steps of the
monument in the desolate waste, and again something rustled behind her,
and a shrouded figure bent over her, nearer and nearer, oppressing and
suffocating her.

Her heart was contracted by fear; she started up terrified, and looked
about her. There!--it was no dream-fancy--something really rustled
behind the curtains, and a shrouded shadow glided along the wainscoted
walls.

With a scream Amalaswintha opened the curtain wide--there was nothing
to be seen.

Was it, then, but a dream?

It was impossible to remain alone with her torturing thoughts. She
pressed a knob of agate on the wall, which set in motion a hammer
outside the room.

Very soon a slave appeared, whose features and costume betrayed a
higher education.

He introduced himself as the Greek physician. She told him of the
terrible dreams and the feverish tremblings by which she had been
tormented during the last few hours. He explained the symptoms as the
consequence of excitement, perhaps of cold taken during her flight,
recommended a warm bath, and left her to order its preparation.

Amalaswintha remembered the splendid baths, which, divided into two
stories, occupied the whole right wing of the villa.

The lower story of the large octagonal rotunda, designed for the cold
bath, was in immediate connection with the