Then, seeming to gain strength from his excitement, he strode up and down the atrium, while the physician watched him anxiously but without venturing to interfere.
It was the doorkeeper's attendant that broke in upon the scene, pausing a moment in doubt, as his eyes followed his master's rapid strides. Finally, approaching Agathocles, he plucked him by the sleeve and whispered:—
"The woman desires to know of the health of my lord."
Before the physician could answer, Sergius had caught the words, and, wheeling about, faced the boy.
"What woman and where?" he asked.
"The gray stole; the slave woman who inquires for you. She waits her answer at the door," said the boy, his tongue loosened by the question.
"Let her come to me," commanded Sergius, and he threw himself down upon the deeply cushioned seat of a marble chair. Agathocles stood at his elbow, with an expression of anxiety on his face, and, in a moment more, the girl entered.
Muffled almost to the eyes, she glided forward, and the voice that addressed him was soft and musical.
"May the gods favour you, my lord! even as they have favoured me in permitting a sight of your improved health."
"You have been here often," began Sergius, "and I wished to see you and bid you bear my thanks to her who sent you."