'I know nothing. I am but a follower of the holy Sisinnius--an unworthy follower.' 'May I not speak with him?' The monk had a troubled look. 'I have told you, lady, that he must not, by reason of his vow, enter a human dwelling.' 'But may I not go to him?' she urged. 'May I not seek him in his solitude, guided by you?' To this, said the monk, he could give no reply until he had spoken with Sisinnius. He promised to do so, and to return, though he knew not at what hour, nor even whether it would be this day. And, after demanding many assurances that he would come again as speedily as might be, Aurelia allowed the messenger to depart. Meanwhile Basil and Marcian have spent an hour in talk, the result of which was a decision that Marcian should again repair to the stronghold of Venantius, and persuade him to come over to Surrentum. When his friend had ridden forth Basil sought conversation with Aurelia, whom he found in a mood unlike any she had yet shown to him, a mood of dreamy trouble, some suppressed emotion appearing in her look and in her speech. He began by telling her of Venantius, but this seemed to interest her less than he had expected. 'Cousin,' he resumed, 'I have a double thought in desiring that Venantius should come hither. It is not only that I may talk with him of the war, and learn his hopes, but that I may secure a safe retreat for Veranilda when she is my wife, and for you, dear cousin, if you desire it.' He spoke as strongly as he could without revealing the secret danger, of the risks to which they would all be exposed when rumours of his marriage reached the governor of Cumae, or the Greeks in Neapolis. Until the Goths reached Campania, a Roman here who fell under suspicion of favouring them must be prepared either to flee or to defend himself. Defence of this villa was impossible even against the smallest body of soldiers, but within the walls, raised and fortified by Venantius, a long siege might be safely sustained. 'It is true,' said Aurelia at length, as if rousing herself from her abstraction, 'that we must think of safety. But you are not yet wedded.' 'A few days hence I shall be.' 'Have you forgotten,' she resumed, meeting his resolute smile, 'what still divides you from Veranilda?' 'You mean the difference of religion. Tell me, did that stand in the way of your marriage with a Goth?' She cast down her eyes and was silent. 'Was your marriage,' Basil went on, 'blessed by a Catholic or by an Arian presbyter?' 'By neither,' replied Aurelia gently. 'Then why may it not be so with me and Veranilda? And so it shall be, lady cousin,' he added cheerily. 'Our good Decius will be gone; we await the sailing of the ship; but you and Marcian, and perhaps Venantius, will be our witnesses.'