Volume I Part 56 (1/2)

Supported by his arm she climbed the steps, hewn in the rock, which led to the tower-like, loftily-situated villa. Of the gardens, which, as she distinctly remembered, extended on both sides of the narrow path, scarcely the outlines of the rows of trees could be distinguished in the mist.

At last they reached the lofty entrance, a bronze door with posts of black marble.

Dolios knocked upon it with the hilt of his sword; the stroke reverberated dully through the vaulted halls--the door sprang open.

Amalaswintha remembered how she had once entered this door, then almost choked with wreaths of flowers, at the side of her young husband; she remembered with what friendly warmth they had been welcomed by the door-keeper and his wife, at that time also a newly-married couple.

The dark-looking slave with tangled grey hair, who now stood before her with a lantern and a bunch of keys, was a stranger to her.

”Where is Fuscina, the wife of the late ostiarius? Is she no more in the house?” she asked.

”She was long since drowned in the lake,” answered the door-keeper indifferently; and went forward with the light.

The Princess followed shuddering; she could not help thinking of the cold black waves which had so dismally licked the planks of the little boat.

They went on through arched courts and pillared halls; all were empty, as if the inhabitants were dead. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the deserted rooms--the whole villa seemed one vast catacomb.

”The house is uninhabited? I need a female slave.”

”My wife will attend you.”

”Is no one else in the villa?”

”One other slave--a Greek physician.”

”A physician? I will see him----”

But at this moment a violent knocking was heard at the outer door.

Amalaswintha started in terror.

”What was that?” she asked, catching Dolios by the sleeve.

She heard the banging of the heavy door as it was closed again.

”It was only some one demanding admittance,” said the ostiarius, as he returned and unlocked the door of the room intended for the fugitive Princess.

The close air of a chamber which had not been opened for a long time half suffocated her; but she recognised with emotion the tortoise-sh.e.l.l lining of the walls; it was the same room which she had occupied twenty years ago.

Overpowered by the recollection, she sank upon the small couch, which was covered with dark-coloured cus.h.i.+ons.

Dismissing the two men, she drew close the curtains of the couch, and soon sank into an uneasy slumber.

CHAPTER VI.

Thus she lay, she knew not how long, half awake, half dreaming; picture after picture arose in her excited mind.

Eutharic with the expression of constant pain upon his lips--Athalaric as he lay stretched upon his bier, he seemed to sign to her--the reproachful face of Mataswintha--then mist and clouds and leafless trees--then three angry warriors with pale faces and b.l.o.o.d.y garments--and the blind ferryman in the realm of shades.

At another time it seemed to her as if she lay on the steps of the monument in the desolate waste, and again something rustled behind her, and a shrouded figure bent over her, nearer and nearer, oppressing and suffocating her.