Soon after this conversation, the King, Earl Teja, Adalgoth, and a
numerous suite, arrived at the small town of Taginae, above which, on a
precipitous and thickly-wooded height, stood the cloister founded by
Valerius, in which Valeria still continued to reside.
For her the place had lost all its terrors. She had become used to it,
not only physically but morally. Slowly but surely, her reluctant soul
was influenced by the grave authority of the sacred precincts.
The King met her in the cloister garden, and it seemed to him that her
complexion was much paler, her step slower, than usual.
"What ails you, Valeria?" he asked tenderly. "When our vow seemed past
fulfilment, you were still full of hope and courage. Now, when your
lover wears the crown of this realm, and the foot of the enemy treads
the sacred soil of Italia in scarcely more than one city, will you sink
and despair?"
"Not despair, friend," said Valeria gravely, "but renounce. No, no!
be patient and hear me. Why do you hide from me what all Italia
knows--what your people wish? The King of the Ostrogoths at Toletum has
offered you his alliance against Byzantium, and the hand of his
daughter. Your people expect and wish you to accept both these offers.
I will not be more selfish than was that high-minded daughter of your
nation, Rauthgundis, of whom your minstrels already sing. And I know
that you are as capable of sacrifice as the simple-minded man who was
your unfortunate King."
"I hope that I should be so, if necessary. But happily there is no need
of sacrifice. I do not want the help of the Ostrogoth. Look around, or
rather, look beyond these convent walls. Never has the kingdom
flourished as it does now. Once again I will offer to make peace with
the Emperor. If he still refuse, a war will break out such as he has
never seen. Ravenna will soon fell. Truly, my power and my courage are
not reduced to the point of renunciation! The air of this cloister has
at length enervated your steadfast mind. You must leave this place.
Choose the most lovely of all Italian cities for your residence. Let us
rebuild your father's house in Neapolis."
"No. Leave me here. I have learned to love this quiet place."
"It is the quiet of the grave! And you know well that to renounce you
would be to renounce the ideal of my life. You are the living symbol
of all my plans; you are to me Italia herself! You must become
mine--wholly, irrevocably mine. Goths and Italians shall take their
King and Queen for a pattern; they shall become as united and happy as
we. No--no objections--no more doubts! Thus I smother them!" and he
passionately embraced her.
A few days later Julius Montanus arrived, coming from Genoa and
Urbinum.
The King and his retinue went to meet him outside the cloister gates.
The two friends embraced each other tenderly; for some time they were
incapable of speaking.
Teja stood near and gravely observed them.
"Sir," whispered Adalgoth, "who is the man with the deep-set eyes? a
monk?"
"In his heart he is; but not outwardly."
"Such a young man with such an old look! Dost thou know whom he
resembles? That picture in the cloisters on the golden background."
"It is true; he is like that gentle and sorrowful head of the Apostle
John."
"Your letter," Julius said to Totila, "found me already resolved to
come here."
"You were about to seek me--or Valeria?"
"No, Totila. I came to be examined and accepted by Cassiodorus.
Benedict of Nursia, who fills our century with the fame of his
miracles, has founded an order which powerfully attracts me."
"Julius, you must not do that! What spirit of flying from the world has
seized upon my companions? Valeria, you, and Teja!"
"I fly from nothing," said Julius, "not even from the world."
"How," continued the King, taking his friend by the arm, and leading
him towards the cloister, "how come you, in the bloom of your manhood,
to think of this moral suicide? Look, there comes Valeria. She must
help me to convince you. Ah, if you had ever loved, you would not turn
your back upon the world."
Julius smiled, but made no reply. He quietly clasped Valeria's offered
hand, and followed her into the cloister, where Cassiodorus came to
meet them.
Thanks to the King's eloquence, he was able to induce his friend to
promise that he would accompany the aged Cassiodorus to Byzantium in a
few days. Julius at first shunned the glitter, the noise, and the
wickedness of the Emperor's court, until at last Cassiodorus' example
and Totila's persuasions overcame his scruples.
"I think," the King said, "that more pious works can be accomplished in
the world than in the cloister. _This_ embassy is such a pious work; a
work which is to save two nations from the horrors of renewed warfare."
"Certainly," said Julius, "a king and a hero can serve God as well as a
monk. I do not blame your manner of service--leave mine to me. It seems
to me that in the time in which we live, when an ancient world is
sinking amid much terror, and a new one arises amid wild storms; when
all the vices of a degenerated heathenism are mixed with the wildness
of a barbarous race; when luxury, brute force, and the lusts of the
flesh fill East and West, I think it is well done to found a sanctuary
apart from the world, where poverty, purity, and humble-mindedness can
dwell in peace."
"But to me," said Totila, "it seems that splendour, the happiness of
honest love, and cheerful pride, are no sin before the God of Heaven!
What thinkest thou of our dispute, friend Teja?"
"It has no meaning for me," answered Teja quietly, "for your God is not
my God. But let us not speak of that, for here comes Valeria."