After all that he had come through, Maurice found no difficulty in
inducing sleep to come to his pillow. The room he occupied was one of
those built by Justinian when he renovated this antique fane, and the
walls, floor, and ceiling were of that fine-grained red sandstone of
which the staircase was built. The pavement was bare, save for Turkish
rugs scattered here and there, which lack of carpeting made the
apartment wonderfully cool and pleasant, but the walls were draped with
a heavy kind of woollen tapestry similar to those in the court, saving
that the color was a pale gray, and the embroideries terra-cotta color
to match the floor. A wide window, shaded by Indian beadworked blinds,
looked out on to a pleasant prospect of forest which clothed the side of
the mountain, and the cool wind, heavy with aromatic scents, stole into
the room. It was also furnished in a somewhat antique fashion, though
here and there an anachronism betrayed the nineteenth century, but the
couch whereon Maurice rested was purely Greek in design, and lying on
this in his white robe, with a purple coverlet flung carelessly over his
feet, he might have been taken for some dweller in ancient Athens. True,
the mustache on his lip savored somewhat of the barbarian, but in all
other respects the comparison was close enough, for if his features were
not quite so classic in outline as those of Caliphronas, they were
sufficiently so to pass muster in the carrying out of such fancy.
Lying there with his eyes half closed, the young Englishman in a drowsy
fashion felt the balmy odors permeating the warm air, and saw as in a
dream the antique room, the pleasant prospect beyond, which was but
mistily seen through the veiling beadwork blind. He was puzzled over the
kind reception accorded to him by this strange Justinian, who he had
been led to believe was a kind of modern freebooter. No swarthy,
fantastically-dressed, savage marauder was this island king, but a
gracious, courteous gentleman, arrayed in the white robe of Socrates,
with a winning smile on his face, and polite words on his lips. Crispin
seemed to mistrust him indeed, but even Crispin seemed somewhat
astonished at the suavity of his greeting, and now appeared inclined to
recant his former dislike of the old man. Maurice longed to have a
confidential chat with Crispin, and find out his feelings on the
subject, as it was evident that, far from inclining to Caliphronas,
their host seemed more disposed to side with them.
Again, Maurice found it difficult to account for the old man’s sudden
liking for himself, for the satisfaction with which he had received the
information that his daughter’s face had lured the young Englishman to
his island retreat, and for many other things.