ng from the Holy Land,
found his mistress (believing his death) the bride of Heaven, and he
built a hermitage by the convent where she dwelt; and, though they never
saw each other more, their souls were faithful unto death. Even so,
Irene, be we to each other--dead to all else--betrothed in memory--to
be wedded above! And yet, yet ere I close, one hope dawns upon me. Thy
brother's career, bright and lofty, may be but as a falling star;
should darkness swallow it, should his power cease, should his throne be
broken, and Rome know no more her Tribune; shouldst thou no longer
have a brother in the judge and destroyer of my house; shouldst thou be
stricken from pomp and state; shouldst thou be friendless, kindredless,
alone--then, without a stain on mine honour, without the shame and odium
of receiving power and happiness from hands yet red with the blood of
my race, I may claim thee as my own. Honour ceases to command when thou
ceasest to be great. I dare not too fondly indulge this dream, perchance
it is a sin in both. But it must be whispered, that thou mayest know
all thy Adrian, all his weakness and his strength. My own loved, my
ever loved, loved more fondly now when loved despairingly, farewell! May
angels heal thy sorrow, and guard me from sin, that hereafter at least
we may meet again!"

"He loves me--he loves me still!" said the maiden, weeping at last; "and
I am blest once more!"

With that letter pressed to her heart she recovered outwardly from the
depth of her affliction; she met her brother with a smile, and Nina
with embraces; and if still she pined and sorrowed, it was in that
"concealment" which is the "worm i' the bud."

Meanwhile, after the first flush of victory, lamentation succeeded to
joy in Rome; so great had been the slaughter that the private grief was
large enough to swallow up all public triumph; and many of the mourners
blamed even their defender for the swords of the assailant, "Roma fu
terribilmente vedovata." ("Rome was terribly widowed.") The numerous
funerals deeply affected the Tribune; and, in proportion to his sympathy
with his people, grew his stern indignation against the Barons. Like all
men whose religion is intense, passionate, and zealous, the Tribune had
little toleration for those crimes which went to the root of religion.
Perjury was to him the most base and inexpiable of offences, and the
slain Barons had been twice perjured: in the bitterness of his wrath he
forbade their