gently with her.

"Sit down here by me, dearest, I want to talk with thee a little."

So Virgilia sat down on a little stool at her father's feet and leaned
her arm on his knee, and while he stroked her soft hair, bound with
fillets of chased gold, set with large turquoises, he strove to calm
her and distract her mind from its vagaries.

When he sent her away, he was fully determined on a line of action.

He drew the tablets to him, and wrote a note to the most honorable
Senator Adrian Soderus, asking him to make an appointment.

Calling Alexis, he ordered him to carry the message to the house of
the Senator and bring him the answer.

The Greek returned, promptly. If it stopped raining, the Senator would
come to the house of the lawyer Aurelius Lucanus that evening, after
sundown, accompanied by the notary.

Then he summoned Sahira.

"Thou wilt clothe the Lady Virgilia in her most costly garments. Thou
wilt bind jewels in her hair and hang strings of pearls about her
neck. Her fingers, too, shall be laden with rings. Tell Alexis to
decorate the whole house with flowers and make it beautiful for a
feast."

Sahira went away, wondering what new turn affairs were taking, but she