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What was again unfortunate for Basil, Pelagius had heard, before leaving Byzantium, of the Emperor's wish to discover Veranilda, and had already made inquiries on this subject in Rome. He was glad, then, to speak with this young noble, whose mind he found it very easy to read, and whom, without the least harshness, he resolved to deter from his pursuit of a Gothic bride.
'Do you know who I am? she whispered. 'You are Veranilda! You are beauty and sweetness and divine purity He sought her hand, but at this moment Aurelia turned towards them, and the maiden, quivering, stood up. 'Perhaps the sun is too powerful, said Aurelia, with her tenderest smile. 'My lily has lived so long in the shade.
Basil answered in the only way consistent with prudence: he not only denied all knowledge of where Veranilda was to be found, but spoke as though her fate had little or no interest for him, whereas he professed himself greatly troubled by the disappearance of his cousin Aurelia. It seemed that Petronilla did not purpose delivering Veranilda to the Greeks.
Basil drew nearer to her. 'He had spoken no word of love? 'No word. I had no fear of that. 'Why, then, did he frame these lies, these hellish lies? 'Alas! cried Veranilda, clasping her hands above her head. 'Did he still live, the truth might be discovered.
To defeat Basil's love was his prime end, jealousy being more instant with him than fleshly impulse. Yet so strong had this second motive now become, that he all but regretted his message to the king: to hold Veranilda in his power, to gratify his passion sooner or later, by this means or by that, he would perhaps have risked all the danger to which such audacity exposed him.
That too, be assured, O Veranilda, I confessed to the holy Benedict. Her bowed head and flushing cheek told him that she understood. 'Basil, she whispered, 'it was not you, not you. 'Gladly would I give myself that comfort. When I think, indeed, that this hand was raised to take my friend's life, I shake with horror and say, "Not I did that!"
'But on one point I can reassure you. Veranilda has not yet fallen into the hands of the Greeks. 'How do you know that? exclaimed Basil eagerly. 'Enough that I do know it. Whilst you have been idling here forgive me, good Basil I have travelled far and conversed with many men. And I have something else to tell you, which will perchance fall less agreeably upon your ear.
By the Ionian Sea. Forster's Life of Dickens Abridgement. 1903. The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft. 1904. Veranilda: a Romance. 1905. Will Warburton: a Romance of Real Life. 1906. The House of Cobwebs, and other Stories. It was five o'clock on a June morning.
It were but too easy for me to lengthen a tale which all but choked me in the telling; I could name others who know, but to you they would be only names. That of Heliodora, had you lived in Rome, were more than enough. 'You say he loved her before? 'He did, dear lady, and when her husband was yet living. Now that he is dead 'Have you yet told me all? asked Veranilda, gazing fixedly at him.
They entered the room where they had sat before, and Aurelia, taking up the needlework left by Veranilda, showed it to her companion with admiration. 'She is wondrous at this art. In a contest with Minerva, would she not have fared better than Arachne?
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