stifled him as he slept, and fled that night with five or six others who were tired of the lady’s caprices and feared her cruelty.  Her aviary was empty.  Having wearied of that whim, she had let the birds loose; a generosity she regretted now that toothsome morsels were rare.  In her strong box there remained little money, and the estate she owned in a distant part of Italy might as well have been sunk in the sea for all the profit it could yield her.  True, she had objects of value, such as were daily accepted by Bessas in exchange for corn and pork; but, if it came to that extremity, could not better use be made of the tough-skinned commander?  Heliodora had no mind to support herself on bread and pork whilst food more appetising might still be got.

It was all but dark.  She rang a hand-bell and was answered by a maidservant.

‘Has Sagaris returned yet?’ she asked impatiently.

‘Lady, not yet.’

Heliodora kept silence for a moment, then bade the girl bring her a lamp.  A very small lamp was set upon the table, and as she glanced at its poor flame, Heliodora remembered that the store of oil was nearly at an end.

Again she had sat alone for nearly half an hour, scarcely stirring, so intent was she on the subject of her thoughts, when a light footfall sounded without, and the curtain at the door was raised.  She turned and saw a dark countenance, which smiled upon her coldly.

‘Where have you been?’ broke angrily from her lips.

‘Hither and thither,’ was the softly insolent reply, as Sagaris let the curtain fall behind him and stepped forward to the brazier, over which he held out his hands to warm them.

By his apparel, he might have been mistaken for a noble.

Nominally he had for a year held the office of steward to Heliodora.  That his functions were not, as a matter of fact, all comprised under that name was well known to all in the house, and to some beyond its walls.

‘Were you at the Circus?’ she next inquired, using the large hood to avoid his gaze without seeming to do so.

’I was there, gracious lady.  Not, of course, in such an exalted place as that in which I saw you.’

‘I did not choose that place,’ said Heliodora, her voice almost conciliatory.  ‘Being sent for, I could not refuse to go.’

Sagaris set a stool near to his mistress, seated himself, and looked up into her face.  She, for an instant, bore it impatiently, but of a sudden her countenance changed, and she met the gaze with a half-mocking smile.

‘Is this one of your jealous days?’ she asked, with what was meant for playfulness, though the shining of her eyes and teeth in the lamplight gave the words rather an effect of menace.

‘Perhaps it is,’ answered the Syrian.  ‘What did Bessas say to you?’

’Many things.  He ended by asking me to sup at the palace.  You will own that the invitation was tempting.’