'Did I not forbid you,' cried Aurelia, 'to converse with those women? And you dare repeat to me their loose-lipped chatter. I am too familiar with you; go and talk with your kind; go!' Mutteringly the woman went apart. The mistress, alone, fell into a long weeping. When she had sobbed herself into quiet once more, she sought a volume of the Gospels, inserted her forefinger between the pages at random, and anxiously regarded the passage thus chosen. 'While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.' She brooded, but in the end seemed to find solace. Basil was absent all day. On his return, just before sunset, Aurelia met him in the atrium, heard the report of what he had done, and at length asked whether, on the day after to-morrow, he could go to Cumae. 'To Cumae?' exclaimed Basil. 'Ay, that I can! You are returning thither?' 'For a day only. I go to seek that which no one but myself can find.' The listener had no difficulty in understanding this; it meant, of course, treasure concealed in the house Aurelia had long inhabited. 'We must both go and return by sea,' said Aurelia, 'even though it cause us delay. I have no mind to pass through Neapolis.' 'Be it so. The sky will be calm when this storm has passed Shall you return,' said Basil, 'alone?' 'Alone? Do you purpose to forsake me?' 'Think better of my manners, cousin--and more shrewdly of my meaning.' 'You mean fairly, I trust?' she returned, looking him steadily in the face. 'Nay,' cried the young man vehemently, 'if I have any thought other than honest, may I perish before I ever again behold her!' Aurelia's gaze softened. 'It is well,' she said; 'we will speak again to-morrow.' That night Petronilla kept vigil in the church of Surrentum, Basil and Decius relieving her an hour before dawn. At the funeral service, which began soon after sunrise, the greater part of the townsfolk attended. All were eager to see whether the daughter of Maximus would be present, for many rumours were rife touching Aurelia, some declaring that she had returned to the true faith, some that she remained obstinate in heresy. Her failure to appear did not set the debate at rest. A servant of Petronilla whispered it about that only by a false pretence of conversion had Aurelia made sure her inheritance; and at the mere thought of such wickedness the hearers shuddered, foretelling a dread retribution. The clergy were mute on the subject, even with the most favoured of their flock. Meanwhile the piety and austerity of Petronilla made a safe topic of talk, and a long procession reverently escorted her to her temporary abode near the bishop's house.