ued, but which the lapse of time had once more made perilous. To
any who should have ventured to taunt him with forgetfulness of
Veranilda, he would have fiercely given the lie; and with reason, for
Veranilda's image was as vivid to him as on the day when he lost her,
and she alone of women had the power to excite his deepest and
tenderest emotions. Nevertheless, he had more than once of late visited
Heliodora, and though these visits were in appearance only such as he
might have paid to any lady of his acquaintance, Basil knew very well
whither they tended. As yet Heliodora affected a total forgetfulness of
the past; she talked of Veranilda, and confessed that her efforts to
make any discovery regarding the captive were still fruitless, though
she by no means gave up hope; therewithal, she treated Basil only half
seriously, with good-naturedly mocking smiles, as a mere boy, a disdain
to her mature womanhood. Of this was he thinking as he tossed on the
couch in the library; he had thought of it too much since leaving
Heliodora yesterday afternoon. It began to nettle him that his grief
should be for her merely an amusement. Never having seen the Gothic
maiden, whose beauty outshone hers as sunrise outdoes the lighting of a
candle, this wanton Greek was capable of despising him in good earnest,
and Basil had never been of those who sit easy under scorn. He felt
something chafe and grow hot within him, and recalled the days when he,
and not Heliodora, had indulged contempt--to his mind a much more
natural posture of affairs, The animal that is in every man had begun
to stir; it urged him to master and crush and tame this woman, whom,
indeed, he held rather in hate than in any semblance of love. Her
beauty, her sensuality, had power over him still; he resented such
danger of subjection, and encouraged himself in a barbarism of mood,
which permitted him to think that even in yielding he might find the
way of his revenge.

There had been a long silence since his reply to the hint offered by
Decius. The student spoke again.

'Basil, leave Rome.'

'It is forbidden,' answered the other dully, his face averted.

'Many things are forbidden which none the less are done. Did you learn
that Veranilda awaited you at Asculum, how long would it be before you
set forth?'

'Not one hour, good Decius.'

'Even so. You would pass the gates disguised as a peasant or as a
woman--no matter how. Will you do less to save all that makes lif