e, to shake off
indolence and the love of ease, to fortify himself with vigorous
exercises, and become ready for warfare. It was all very well for an
invalid, like Decius, to nurse a tranquil existence, unheeding the
temper of the times. A strong and healthy man had no right to lurk away
from the streaming flood of things; it behoved him to take his part in
strife and tumult, to aid in re-establishing a civic state. This
determination firmly grasped, he turned to think of the hoped-for
meeting with Veranilda in the morning, and gentler emotions lulled him
into dreams.

At dawn he bestirred himself. The gallery outside his chamber was
lighted with a hanging lamp, and at a little distance sounded the
footstep of the watchman, who told him that the morning was fair, and,
at his bidding, opened a door which admitted to the open terrace
overlooking the sea. Having stepped forth, Basil stood for a moment
sniffing the cool air with its scent from the vineyards, and looking at
the yellow rift in the eastern sky; then he followed a path which
skirted the villa's outward wall and led towards the dwelling of
Aurelia. Presently he reached the ruined wall of the little garden, and
here a voice challenged him, that of a servant on watch until sunrise.

'It is well,' he replied. 'I will relieve you for this last half hour;
go to your rest.'

But the slave hesitated. He had strictest orders, and feared to disobey
them even at this bidding.

'You are an honest fellow,' said Basil, 'and the lady Aurelia shall
know of your steadfastness. But get you gone; there is no danger whilst
I am here.'

Impatiently he watched the man retire, then stood just within the gap
of the wall, and waited with as much fear as hope. It might be that
Veranilda would not venture forth without speaking to Aurelia, who
might forbid the meeting; or, if she tried to steal out, she might be
detected and hindered; perhaps she would fear to pass under the eyes of
a watchman or other servant who might be in her way. He stamped
nervously, and turned to look for a moment in the outward direction.
This little villa stood on the edge of a declivity falling towards the
sea; a thicket of myrtles grew below. At the distance of half a mile
along the coast, beyond a hollow wooded with ilex, rose a temple, which
time and the hand of man had yet spared; its whiteness glimmered
against a sky whose cloudless dusk was warming with a reflection of the
daybreak. An influence in