If it was his desire to break through the barrier of well-nigh insolent calm which she seemed to have set round her dainty person, then he succeeded over well, for she winced at his words like one who has received a blow and her eyes, dark with anger, narrowed until they became mere slits fringed by her golden lashes.
"But thou hast a life, Taurus Antinor," she said, "and life is a precious possession."
He shrugged his massive shoulders, and a curious smile played round his lips.
"And thou canst order that precious possession to be taken from me," he said lightly. "Is that what thou wouldst say?"
"That and more, for thou hast other precious treasures more precious, mayhap, than life; so guard them well, O Taurus Antinor!"
"Nay, gracious lady," he rejoined, still smiling, "I have but one soul as I have one life, and that too is in the hands of God."
"Of which god?" she asked quaintly.
He did not reply but pointed upwards at the vivid dome of blue against which the white of Phrygian marbles glittered in the sun.
"Of Him Whose Empire is mightier than that of Rome."
She looked on him in astonishment. Apparently she did not understand him, nor did he try to explain, but it seemed to her as if his whole appearance had changed suddenly, and her thoughts flew back to that which she had witnessed a year ago when she was in Ostia and she had seen a raging tempest become suddenly stilled. "There is no mightier empire than that of Rome," she said proudly, "and methinks thou art a traitor, oh Taurus Antinor, else thou wouldst not speak of any emperor save of Cæsar, my kinsman."