CHAPTER XIV

THE PRINCESS HAS A CREED


"I shall ask you, Sergius, to return to the city to-night, for inquiry
about the fete will be lively tomorrow in the holy houses. And if you
have the disposition to defend me"--

"You doubt me, O Princess?"

"No."

"O little mother, let me once for all be admitted to your confidence,
that in talking to me there may never be a question of my loyalty."

This, with what follows, was part of a conversation between the Princess
Irene and Sergius of occurrence the evening of the fete in the court
heretofore described, being that to which she retired to read the letter
of introduction brought her by the young monk from Father Hilarion.

From an apartment adjoining, the voices of her attendants were
occasionally heard blent with the monotonous tinkle of water overflowing
the bowls of the fountain. In the shadowy depths of the opening above
the court the stars might have been seen had not a number of lamps
suspended from a silken cord stretched from wall to wall flooded the
marble enclosure with their nearer light.