perhaps he imagined. He glanced at Basil; he understood. Though the
future still troubled him, opposition to the lover's will must, he
knew, be idle.

Several hours before, Basil had scratched on a waxed tablet a few
emphatic lines, which his cousin allowed to be transmitted to
Veranilda. They assured her that what he had learned could only--
if that were possible--increase his love, and entreated her to
grant him were it but a moment's speech after the formal visit,
later in the day. The smile with which she now met him seemed at
once gratitude and promise; she was calmer, and less timid. Though
she took little part in the conversation, her words fell very
sweetly after the men's speech and the self-confident tones of
Aurelia; her language was that of an Italian lady, but in the accent
could be marked a slight foreignness, which to Basil's ear had the
charm of rarest music, and even to Decius sounded not unpleasing.
Under the circumstances, talk, confined to indifferent subjects,
could not last very long; as soon as it began to flag, Decius found
an excuse for begging permission to retire. As though wishing for a
word with him in confidence, Aurelia at the same time passed out of
the room into the colonnade. Basil and Veranilda were left alone.





CHAPTER VI

THE EMPEROR'S COMMAND