Veranilda?'

'Marcian!' cried the listener incredulously. 'You do not know him.
He is the staunchest and frankest of friends. He knows of my love;
we have talked from heart to heart.'

'Yet it was at his intercession that the Hun allowed us to go; why,
you cannot guess. What if he have power and motives which threaten
Veranilda's peace?'

Basil exclaimed against this as the baseless fear of a woman. Had
there been a previous command from some high source touching the
Gothic maiden, Chorsoman would never have dared to sell her freedom.
As to Marcian's power, that was derived from the authorities at
Rome, and granted him for other ends; if he used it to release
Veranilda, he acted merely out of love to his friend, as would soon
be seen.

'I will hope so,' murmured Aurelia. 'Now you have heard what she
herself desired that I should tell you, for she could not meet your
look until you knew it. Her father's treachery is Veranilda's shame;
she saw her noble mother die for it, and it has made her mourning
keener than a common sorrow. I think she would never have dared to
wed a Goth; all true Goths, she believes in her heart, must despise
her. It is her dread lest you, learning who she is, should find your
love chilled.'

'Call her,' cried Basil, starting to his feet. 'Or let me go to her.
She shall not suffer that fear for another moment. Veranilda!
Veranilda!'