e dear
to an honourable man? Be gone, be gone, I entreat you.'

'Whither?'

'To Picenum, which is not yet subject to the Goths. There gather your
capable men and arm them, and send to the King Totila, offering to
serve him where he will, and how he will. You know,' pursued Decius
earnestly, 'that I speak this something against my conscience, but,
alas! we can only choose between evils, and I think Totila is less of a
tyrant than Justinian. You will not go to Constantinople, nor would I
bid you, for there, assuredly, is nothing to be done worthy of a man;
but you must act, or you perish. For me, a weakling and a dreamer,
there is solace in the _vita umbratilis_; to you, it is naught. Arise,
then, O Basil, ere it be too late.'

The listener rose from his recumbent attitude; he was stirred by this
unwonted vigour in Decius, but not yet did resolve appear on his
countenance.

'Did I but know,' he murmured, 'that Veranilda is not in Rome!'

Innumerable times had he said it; the thought alone held him inert.
Impossible to discover, spite of all his efforts, whether Veranilda had
been delivered to the Greeks, or still lay captive in some place known
to the deacon Leander. From the behaviour of Bessas nothing could be
certainly deduced: it was now a long time since he had sent for Basil,
and Marcian, though believing that the commander's search was still
futile, had no more certainty than his friend. Soon after Petronilla's
death, the Anician mansion had been thoroughly pillaged and everything
of value removed to the Palatine. Bessas condescended to justify this
proceeding: having learnt, he said, that the question of Aurelia's
orthodoxy lay in doubt, some declaring that she was a heretic, some
that she had returned to orthodoxy before her father's death, he took
charge of the property which might be hers until she appeared to claim
it, when, having the testament of Maximus in his hand, he would see
that justice was done. With Leander, Basil had succeeded in obtaining
an interview, which was altogether fruitless. The deacon would answer
no question, and contented himself with warning his visitor of the
dangers incurred by one who openly sought to defeat the will of the
Emperor.

'Is it farewell?' asked Decius, stepping towards his kinsman, who
seemed about to leave the room.

'I will think.'

'Go speak with Gordian. He says that he can obtain you permission to
leave the city.'

'I doubt it,' replied Basil. 'But I w