trious guests to pay their
respects to her,--but even this Neforis refused It would be quite enough
if her visitors received messages and greetings daily in her name, with
offerings of choice fruit and flowers, and on the last day some costly
gift. Orion thought this proposal quite worthy of them both, and
presently drove off behind his Pannonians to the hostelry.
By the harbor he met the captain of the boat he had hired; to him he
held up two fingers, and the boatman signified by repeated nodding that
he had understood the meaning of this signal: "Be ready at two hours
before midnight."
The sight of this weather-beaten pilot, and the prospect of making
some return to his noble friends for all their kindness, cheered Orion
greatly; and though he regretted being obliged to leave these guests of
all others, the perils that lay before him reasserted their charm. He
could surely win over the abbess in the course of the voyage, and Paula
might be brought to reason, perhaps, this very evening. Justinus and his
wife were Melchites, and he knew that both these friends--for whom he
had a particular regard--would be enchanted with his scheme if he took
them into his confidence.
The inn kept by Sostratus, a large, square building surrounding a
spacious court-yard, was the best and most frequented in the town. The
eastern side faced the road and the river, and contained the best rooms,
in which, on the previous night, the senator had established himself
with his wife and servants. The clatter of the quadriga drew Justinus
to the window; as soon as he recognized Orion he waved a table-napkin to
him, shouting a hearty "Welcome!" and then retired into the room again.
"Here he is!" he cried to his wife, who was lying on a couch in the
lightest permissible attire, and sipping fruit-syrup from time to time
to moisten her dry lips, while a boy fanned her for coolness.
"That is well indeed!" she exclaimed, and desired her maid to be quick,
very quick, and fetch her a wrap, but to be sure it was a thin one.
Then, turning to a very lovely young woman who had started to her feet
at Justinus' first exclamation, she asked:
"Would you rather that he should find you here, my darling, or shall we
see him first, and tell him that we have brought you with us?"
"That will be best," answered the other in a sweet voice, and she sighed
softly before she added: "What will he not think of me? We may grow
older, but folly--folly..."
"Grows
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