'Heaven forbid,' was Leander's reply, 'that I should bind myself in
such terms to perform an office of friendship, which under any
circumstances would be my anxious care.'

'Even,' asked Maximus, 'if she persist in her heresy?'

'Even so, my dear lord, remembering from whom she springs. But,' he
added, in a soothing voice, 'let me put your mind at rest. Trust me,
the lady Aurelia will not long cling to her error. In poverty, in
humiliation, she might be obstinate; but as the possessor of
wealth--restored to her due rank--oh, my gracious lord, be assured
that her conversion will soon follow.'

The same thought had occurred to Maximus. He sighed in profound
relief, and regarded the deacon gratefully.

'In that hope I rest. Give me your promise to befriend her, and ask
of me what you will.'

Save for the hours she passed at her father's side, Aurelia kept a
strict retirement, guarded by the three female slaves whom
Petronilla had reluctantly assigned to her. Of them she required no
intimate service, having her own attendants, an elderly woman, the
nurse of her childhood, who through all changes of fortune had never
quitted her, and a younger, half-Goth, half-Italian, who discharged
humbler duties. She occupied a small dwelling apart from the main
structure of the villa, but connected with it by a portico: this was
called the House of Proba, it having been constructed a hundred
years ago for the lady Faltonia Proba, who wrote verses, and perhaps
on that account desired a special privacy. Though much neglected,