‘And now hear me,’ he cried.  ’If I were prudent, I also should lie, for the truth may be dangerous.  But you shall know it, O Gordian, and if you choose to harm me—­’

The other raised a hand, and so full of dignity was this gesture, so solemn the look which accompanied it, that Basil’s vehemence felt itself rebuked; he grew silent and listened.

’Basil, check your tongue, which I see will be your greatest peril.  Do not confide in me, for I know not whether I can respect your confidence.  Let us speak of other things.’

The younger man stood for a moment in hesitancy, his cheeks aflame, his eyes fiercely gleaming.

‘As you will,’ he exclaimed, mastering himself.  ’When the others are here, you will learn all that it concerns you to know.  Remember, Gordian, that I would have opened my heart to you, for, whatever I said, I know well that you are no betrayer.  As for that woman—­’

He was interrupted by the arrival of several persons, old and young, who appeared in answer to his summons.  Having received them with colder courtesy than was natural to him, Basil produced the testament of Maximus, and submitted it to his kinsmen’s inspection.  The tablets passed from hand to hand; the signatures and seals of the seven witnesses were examined, the contents read and discussed.  Meanwhile guests continued to arrive, until a considerable gathering, which included several ladies, had assembled in the great hall.  Here was represented all that deemed itself best and most illustrious in the society of Rome.  More came than were expressly invited; for, beyond the legitimate interest of the occasion, curiosity had been aroused by the gossip of Petronilla, and some whose connection with the Anician house was of the very slightest, hastened to present themselves at Basil’s door.  Hither came men whose names recalled the glories of the Republic; others who were addressed by appellations which told of Greek dominion; alike they claimed the dignity of Roman optimates, and deemed themselves ornaments of an empire which would endure as long as the world.  Several ranked as senators; two or three were ex-consuls; ten years ago the last consul of Rome had laid down his shadowy honours; one had held the office of Praetorian Prefect when Theodoric was king; yet, from the political point of view, all were now as powerless as their own slaves.  Wealth a few of them still possessed, but with no security; a rapacious Byzantine official, the accident of war, might at any moment strip them of all they had.  For the most part they had already sunk to poverty, if not to indigence; among these aristocratic faces were more than one which bore the mark of privation.  Those who had little means or none lived as parasites of more fortunate relatives; though beggars, they housed in palaces—­ palaces, it is true, which had often no more comfort within their marble walls than the insulae where the ignoble laid their heads.