CHORSOMAN
Fearful of sleeping till after sunrise, Basil had bidden Felix arouse
him this morning; and, as he had much to talk of with Veranilda, he
betook himself to the garden very early.
Aurelia's watchman was standing without, gazing anxiously now this way,
now that, surprised by his mistress's failure to return; on the
appearance of Basil he withdrew, but only to a spot whence he could
survey the garden. All impatience, the lover waited, as minute after
minute slowly passed. Dawn was broadening to day, but Veranilda came
not. An agony of disappointment seized upon him, and he stood at length
in the attitude of one sickening with despair. Then a footstep
approached, and he saw the slave whose watch he had relieved come
forward with so strange a look that Basil could only stare at him.
'My lord,' said the man, 'there is one at the gate of the villa who
brings I know not what news for you.'
'One at the gate? News?' echoed Basil, his heart sinking with dread
anticipation. 'What mean you, fellow?'
'Most noble, I know nothing,' stammered the frightened slave 'I beseech
your greatness to inquire. They say--I know not what--'
Basil sped across the garden and into Aurelia's dwelling. Here he found
a group of servants talking excitedly together; at view of him, they
fell back as if fear-stricken. From one, Aurelia's old nurse, rose a
wail of distress; upon her Basil rushed, grasped her by the arm, and
sternly demanded what had happened. Dropping to her knees with a shrill
cry, the woman declared that Aurelia had vanished, that some one from
the city had seen her carried away before dawn.
'Alone?' asked Basil in a terrible voice.
'Lord, I know not,' wailed the woman, grovelling at his feet.
'Is Veranilda in her chamber?' he asked violently.
'Gone!' replied a faint voice from amid the group of servants.
'Where is this messenger?'
Without waiting for a reply, he sprang forward. In the portico which
led to the villa he heard his name shouted, and he knew the voice for
Marcian's; another moment and Marcian himself appeared, pale, agitated.
'Why do you seek me?' cried Basil.
'You come from yonder? Have you seen Aurelia? Then it is true.'
Marcian told the news brought up from Surrentum by some person unknown,
who, having uttered it in the porter's ear, had at once fled.
'Go call Venantius,' said Basil, when he had heard the brief story,
'and bring him straight to Aurelia's house. They are gone; that
slinking slave shall tell me how, or I will tear it out of him with his
soul.'
Back he rushed, and found the nurse still crouching on the floor,
wailing. He made her lead him to her lady's chamber, and to that of
Veranilda, where nothing unusual met their eyes. The watchman was then
summoned; he came like one half dead, and smote the ground with his
forehead before the young noble, who stood hand on dagger. A fierce
interrogatory elicited clear and truthful answers; when Basil learned
what Aurelia had whispered to her servant as she went forth, he uttered
a groan.
'Marcian! Venantius!' he cried, for at that moment the two entered the
atrium. 'I understand it all. Why had I no fear of this?'
That Aurelia had been deceived and inveigled by one professing to be an
Arian priest, seemed clear from the watchman's story. For the
originator of the plot, Basil had not far to look. This was the
vengeance of Petronilla. But whither the two captives would be
conveyed, was less easy to conjecture. Perhaps to Cumae. The thought
stung Basil to frenzy, for, if Veranilda once fell into the hands of
the Greeks, what hope had he of ever seeing her again?
'Did Petronilla know?' he asked of Marcian.
'Who can say?' answered his friend, easily understanding the curtailed
question. 'Like enough that she had sent to Cumae to learn all she
could; and in that case, she found, you may be sure, ready instruments
of her malice. Were it not better,' Marcian added in an aside, 'to tell
Venantius what danger threatened Veranilda?'
The warlike Roman, who, aroused on an alarm, had instantly equipped
himself with casque and sword, stood listening to what passed, sniffing
the air and rolling his eyes about as if he desired nothing better than
a conflict. The others now drew him aside into a more private place,
and made known to him their reason for fearing that the Gothic maiden
had been seized by emissaries from Cumae.
'Had I heard that story before,' said Venantius, all but laughing with
angry surprise, 'Veranilda would now be safe in my castle; for, instead
of lingering, I should have come straightway, to rescue her and you.
Holy Peter and Paul! You sported here, day after day, knowing that the
hounds of Justinian had scent of the maid you carried away? You, Basil,
might commit such folly, for you were blinded to everything by your
love. But, Marcian, how came you to let him loll in his dream of
security? Why did you conceal this from me? By Castor! it was
unfriendly as it was imprudent. You robbed me of a sweet morsel when
you denied me the chance of balking the Greeks in such a matter as
this. Nay, the bird is caged at Cumae, be sure.'
Marcian's brows were knit, and his eyes cast down as he listened to
this reproof.
'I had not thought of Petronilla,' he murmured. 'But for her, the
danger was not pressing. That thick-skulled Hun at Cumae easily let
himself be blinded, as I told you.'
'How could I forget,' cried Basil, 'that Petronilla would risk
damnation rather than lose her vengeance upon Aurelia But,' he added,
with sudden change from gloom to vehemence, 'that woman is not beyond
our reach. Only yesterday did she set forth for Rome, and she may have
passed the night at Neapolis. A horseman will easily overtake her.
Felix!' he shouted. 'Our horses!--she shall pay for this if my hands
can get at her throat!'
Felix appeared, but not in answer to his master's summons; he came
precipitately, followed by a swarm of frightened slaves, to announce
another surprise. Before the villa stood a hostile multitude, folk of
Surrentum, who demanded admittance, and, if denied, would enter by
force. At this news Venantius hastened to muster his troop of archers
and spearmen. Basil and Marcian, having made sure that all entrances
were locked and barred, went to the front gate, and through a wicket
surveyed the assailants. These seemed to be mainly of the baser class;
they had armed themselves with all sorts of rude weapons, which they
brandished menacingly, shouting confused maledictions. From the porter
Basil learned that those who had first presented themselves at the door
had demanded that 'the heretics' should be given up to them; and by
listening to the cries, he understood that the wrath of these people
was directed against the Arian servants brought hither by Aurelia.
Through the wicket he held colloquy with certain leaders of the throng.
'The heretics! Yield to us the accursed heretics!' shouted a burly
fellow armed with an ox-goad.
'For what usage?' asked Basil.
'That's as they choose. If they like to come before the bishop and turn
Christian--why, a little correction shall suffice. If not, they have
only themselves and the devil to blame.'
By this time Venantius and his retainers stood in the forecourt. To
him, the routing of such a rabble seemed a task not worth speaking of,
but some few would no doubt be slain, and Basil shrank from such
extremities.
'Would you give up these trembling wretches?' asked Venantius
scornfully, pointing to the four slaves, male and female, Arians either
by origin or by conversion to please Aurelia, whom she had brought from
Cumae. On their knees they were imploring protection.
'Nay, I will fight for their safety,' Basil answered. 'But if we can
frighten off this tag-rag without bloodshed so much the better.'
Venantius consented to make the attempt. On the upper villa was an open
gallery looking over the entrance, and fully visible from where the
invaders stood. Hither the armed men ascended and stood in line, the
bowmen with arrows on string. Their lord, advancing to the parapet,
made a signal demanding silence, and spoke in a audible to every ear in
the throng.
'Dogs! You came on this errand thinking that the villa was defenceless.
See your mistake! Each one of these behind me has more arrows in store
than all your number, and never shot bolt from bow without piercing the
mark. Off! Away with your foul odours and your yelping throats! And if,
when you have turned tail, any cur among you dares to bark back that I,
Venantius of Nuceria, am no true Catholic, he shall pay for the lie
with an arrow through chine and gizzard!' This threat he confirmed with
a terrific oath of indisputable orthodoxy.
The effect was immediate. Back fell the first rank of rioters, pressing
against those in the rear; and without another cry, with only a low,
terrified growling and snarling, the crowd scattered in flight.
'There again I see Petronilla,' declared Basil, watching the rout with
fierce eyes. 'I'll swear that, before starting, she set this game
afoot. I must after her, Venantius.'
'Alone?'
'Mother of God! if I had your men! But I will make soldiers of my own.
Some of the likeliest from our folk here shall follow me; enough to
stay that she-wolf's journey till I can choke the truth out of her.'
Venantius, his eyes fixed on the descending road by which the rabble
had disappeared, caught sight of something which held him mute for a
moment. Then he gave a snort of surprise.
'What's this? There are no Greek soldiers in Surrentum.'
Yet unmistakable soldiers of the Imperial army were approaching. First
came into sight a commanding officer; he rode a little in advance of
the troop, which soon showed itself to consist of some two score
mounted men, armed with bows and swords. And in the rear came the
rabble of Surrentines, encouraged to return by this arrival of armed
authority.
'That is Chorsoman,' said Marcian, as soon as he could distinguish the
captain's feature, 'the commander at Cumae.'
'Then it is not to Cumae that they have carried her!' exclaimed Basil,
surmising at once that the Hun was come in pursuit of Veranilda.
'Time enough to think of that,' growled Venantius, as he glared from
under black brows at the advancing horsemen. 'What are we to do? To
resist is war, and this villa cannot be held for an hour. Yet to yield
is most likely to be made prisoners. Marcian!'
Marcian was watching and listening with a look of anxious thought.
Appealed to for his counsel, he spoke decidedly.
'Withdraw your men and go down. Resistance is impossible. Chorsoman
must enter, but trust me to manage him. I answer for your liberty.'
Venantius led his men down to the inner court. Basil, careless of
everything but the thought that Veranilda was being borne far from him,
he knew not whither, went to get horses ready, that he might pursue
Petronilla as soon as the road was free. Marcian, having spoken with
the porter, waited till a thundering at the gate announced Chorsoman's
arrival, then had the doors thrown open, and stood with a calm smile to
meet the commander.
'Fair greeting to your Magnificence!' he began with courtesy. 'Be
welcome to this villa, where, in absence of its mistress, I take upon
myself to offer you hospitality.'
Chorsoman had dismounted, and stood with half a dozen of his followers
behind him in the portico. At sight of Marcian his face became
suspicious.
'By mistress,' he replied gruffly, stepping forward, 'I suppose you
mean the daughter of Maximus. Where is she?'
Marcian would have continued the conversation within, but the Hun chose
to remain standing in the for-court, the gate wide open. From the
Surrentines he had already heard the story of Aurelia's disappearance,
which puzzled and angered him, for no one professed to be able to
explain what had happened, yet his informants declared that the Roman
lady and the Gothic maiden had been carried away without the knowledge
of the men who were their protectors. This was now repeated by Marcian,
who professed himself overwhelmed by the event.
'You have here one Basilius,' said Chorsoman.
'The same whom your greatness saw on a certain occasion at Cumae.'
'They tell me he was about to wed with Veranilda. What does that mean?'
'An idle rumour,' replied Marcian, 'springing from vulgar gossip, and
from the spiteful anger of the lady sister of Maximus, who hoped to
inherit what has fallen to her niece. Let your valorous magnificence be
assured that there is no truth in it. Can you imagine that I, whose
mission is known to you, should have looked on at such an audacity? I
think your perspicuity will not require better proof of the powers with
which I am intrusted than that I gave you at Cumae?'
Of the profound contempt proclaimed, rather than disguised, by
Marcian's extravagant courtesy, Chorsoman had no inkling; but his
barbaric mind resented the complexity of things with which it was
confronted, and he felt a strong inclination to take this
smooth-tongued Latin by the throat, so as to choke the plain truth out
of him. Why, he demanded fiercely, had not Aurelia and her companion
travelled straight on to Rome, as he had been assured they were to do?
'For a simple reason,' answered Marcian. 'I judged an escort necessary,
and only yesterday did I obtain it. This very day should we have set
forth.'
'You speak of one Venantius and his followers--he who just now, I am
told, threatened to massacre the harmless citizens of Surrentum.'
'I would rather say the most noble Venantius, a senator, but for whose
presence this villa would have been sacked by a thievish rabble from
below.'
'Let me see him,' said the Hun, his eyes like those of a boar at bay.
'Will it please your Illustrious Magnanimity to eat with us?'
'I will eat when I choose. Fetch here Venantius.'
Marcian despatched the porter, and in a few moments Venantius appeared,
behind him his armed men. A hand lightly on his sword, as though he
played with the hilt, his head proudly erect, the Roman noble paused at
a few paces from the Hun, and regarded him with bold steadfastness.
'You serve the Emperor?' said Chorsoman, somewhat less overbearingly
than he had spoken hitherto.
'When occasion offers,' was the dry response.
On the Hun's countenance grew legible the calculation busying his
thought. At a glance he had taken the measure of Venantius, and gauged
the worth of the men behind him. A smile, which could not mask its
cunning, came on to his lips, and all of a sudden he exchanged his
truculence for amiability.
'Lord Venantius,' he said, laying an open palm on his own breast, and
then motioning with it towards the Roman, 'you and I, two men of
valour, can understand each other in few words. I am no talker'--his
narrow eyes glanced at Marcian--'nor are you. Tell me, if you can, what
has become of the lady Aurelia and of the Gothic maiden who attended
upon her.'
'Lord Chorsoman,' replied Venantius, 'I thought it was you who could
have answered that question. The ladies Aurelia and Veranilda have this
morning disappeared, and we judged it likely that they had been enticed
from the villa to be captured and borne to Cumae.'
'Who should have done that?'
'Emissaries of your own, we supposed.'
The Hun reflected.
'This man of words'--he nodded sideways at Marcian--'spoke of a woman's
malice. Explain to me.'
Venantius told what he knew of Petronilla's enmity, and the listener
had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion which to Basil had been
evident from the first. It was possible moreover, that Cumae might be
the place to which the captives had been conveyed, for Chorsoman had
left the fortress yesterday to come hither by way of Neapolis, his
reason for the expedition being news of Veranilda's approaching
marriage, brought to him by a fisherman who said he had been paid by a
person unknown. Did Petronilla, he next inquired, know that Veranilda
was to be sent to the East? To this Marcian replied with a negative,
adding:
'Unless your Illustrious Discretion have seen fit to spread abroad what
I imparted to your private ear.'
'My tongue is not so loose as yours,' was the Hun's rejoinder.
Again he reflected, with the result that he decided to send a messenger
at once to Cumae. Until news could be brought back he should remain
here in the villa. This intention he announced in a tone abundantly
significant, his hearers understanding that Aurelia's property was now
in hands not accustomed to relax their grasp.
'Lord Venantius,' he added, 'as your escort is no longer needed, you
will wish, no doubt, to return forthwith to your own abode. It will not
be long before you have the occasion you desire of proving your loyalty
to the Emperor. Brave men both, we may presently fight side by side.
Let us sit at table together, and then good-speed!'
With a haughty glare Venantius heard this dismissal. A reply surged
into his throat, but he swallowed it again, remembering that more than
his personal safety was at stake.
'You will pardon me, lord,' he replied, 'if I do not stay to break my
fast. I am of impatient humour, and never willingly linger when a
journey is before me.'
'As you will,' said Chorsoman, with a slight knitting of his brows.
'You ride alone, I suppose?'
'The lord Basil, who starts for Rome, will give me his company as far
as our ways are one.'
Chorsoman gave a glance at the soldiers in his rear, then at Marcian,
and smiled grimly.
'I fear you must go without lord Basil. I shall have need of him.'
There was a very short silence; then Marcian spoke, with bland decision.
'Commander, this cannot be. Basil carries letters of urgency to Rome
and Ravenna; letters which I would not intrust to any one else. Your
Sublimity will see that it is impossible to delay him.'
Teeth hard set, and eyes aflame, the Hun took a step forward. In the
same instant, Venantius laid a hand upon his sword, and, at the
gesture, his armed men looked to their weapons.
'Where is this Basil?' demanded Chorsoman.
'I will let him know if you wish to speak with him,' replied Marcian.
'You shall be spared the trouble. Lord Venantius, bid your followers
retire and get their horses ready, whilst you and I go in search of
lord Basil. You will not refuse me your company for a few minutes?'
Cunning had again subdued the Hun's violence, and discretion prevailed
with the Roman. Together they passed through the atrium, Chorsoman
casting eager glances about him, and to the inner court; but the
followers of Venantius, obedient to a silent order, still kept their
position in face of the Greek soldiers, and this Chorsoman knew.
'You understand,' said the Hun, when they were alone together, you, a
brave and honourable man, how my duty to the Emperor obliges me to act.
I, of course, take possession of this villa until Aurelia is
discovered. And, however important his mission, I cannot allow Basil to
depart without some security--you will understand that.'
The barbarous accent with which these sentences were uttered caused
Venantius almost as much disgust as the plundering purpose they avowed.
'What security?' he asked.
Chorsoman named a large sum of money. As he spoke, Basil himself
appeared; and with brief preface, the matter under debate was reported
to him. He glanced at Venantius but could find no counsel in the dark,
stern face. Foreseeing the result of the Hun's visit, Basil had
hastened to conceal on his own person a considerable weight of coin,
and had intrusted something like the same amount to Felix. In the
treasure chamber lay a mass of wealth now belonging to Aurelia, and the
mere fact of this being under lock and key by no means secured it
against the commander's greed. Marcian came forward, and hearing the
talk of ransom, endeavoured to awe the Hun into moderation, but with
less success than he had had at Cumae. So he led Basil aside, told him
of the messenger sent to Cumae, as well as of the inventions by which
Chorsoman had been beguiled, and counselled mere inaction until news
came. Marcian then inquired of the commander whether, in case Veranilda
were found at Cumae, he would permit her to be sent on to Rome under
the escort already provided; but to this Chorsoman vouchsafed no direct
reply: he would consider the matter.
Negotiations had reached this point when new visitors arrived, the
Bishop of Surrentum and presbyter Joannes. Though suffering much, the
good bishop had risen from bed as soon as the exciting events of this
morning had reached his ear His innocence of complicity in the plot
against Aurelia and Veranilda, no one who saw him could doubt; with
astonishment he had heard of the priests and their armed attendants,
and with indignation of the citizens' tumultuous behaviour. What right
or reason had folk to proclaim that Aurelia was still a heretic, and
that she should not have been allowed to inherit property? Who, he
asked severely, could read her heart? And when inquiry made it too
certain that all this angry feeling had originated with Petronilla, the
prelate shook his head sadly, thinking more than he cared to say.
Arrived at the villa, he first of all learnt all he could as to the
position of things (declaring total ignorance when the Hun sought to
examine him as to the relations of Basil and Veranilda), then made
earnest inquiry whether there really were slaves here who professed
Arianism. The four were summoned; overcome with dread, they prostrated
them selves, and entreated the bishop to make them Catholics Having
heard from them that they all had been baptized (the Roman Church held
the baptism of Arians valid), he sent them apart for summary
instruction by Joannes, and afterwards laid his reconciling hands upon
them. Thus had the Church gained four members, and the good folk of
Surrentum lost a heretic-baiting.
With the proceedings of the Imperial commander the worthy cleric could
not interfere. He spoke privately with Basil, and betrayed, in a gentle
severity of mien, his suspicion of the young noble's state of mind, but
of this not a word fell from him; his concern seemed to be solely with
the lady Aurelia, regarding whom he would set every possible inquiry on
foot. He advised Basil not to leave the neighbourhood for a day or two,
and to communicate with him before he went far. Gratefully Basil kissed
the old man's hand. They never met again. A week later the bishop was
dead.
After all, Venantius sat at table with Chorsoman. Fuming, he waited
till the next morning, when, if the news could be believed, it became
certain that Aurelia and her companion were not at Cumae. Basil, having
no choice, then paid for ransom nearly all the money he had secreted,
and rode away with Venantius, purposing to remain at Nuceria until
joined by Marcian. Three days later Marcian appeared at the castle He
brought no intelligence of the lost ladies. As for their abode, it had
been thoroughly pillaged; the treasure chamber was discovered and
broken open; not a coin, not a vessel or ornament which had its price,
not a piece of silk, had escaped the clutches of the Hun.
Chorsoman's departure was followed by an invasion of the Surrentines,
who robbed more grossly. A fire broke out in the house of Proba, and
much of that building was destroyed. In the once magnificent villa
there lurked but a few slaves, who knew not whether their owner lived.