"And King Witichis?" asked Teja; "what evil had he done? that man without spot or blemish! And I myself, and----"
He suddenly became silent.
"Thy life has been a mystery to me since our early youth----"
"Enough for the present," said Teja. "I have this evening revealed more of my inmost heart than in many a long year. The time will surely come when I may unfold to thee my life and my thoughts. I should not like," he continued, turning to Adalgoth, and stroking his shining locks, "to dim too soon the bright harp-strings of the youngest and best singer of our nation."
"As thou wilt," said the King, rising. "To me thy sorrow is sacred. But, I pray thee, let us cherish our refound friendship. To-morrow I go to Taginæ, to my bride. Accompany me--that is, if it does not pain thee to see me happy with a Roman woman."
"Oh no--it touches me--it reminds me of---- I will go with thee!"
CHAPTER II.
Soon after this conversation, the King, Earl Teja, Adalgoth, and a numerous suite, arrived at the small town of Taginæ, above which, on a precipitous and thickly-wooded height, stood the cloister founded by Valerius, in which Valeria still continued to reside.
For her the place had lost all its terrors. She had become used to it, not only physically but morally. Slowly but surely, her reluctant soul was influenced by the grave authority of the sacred precincts.
The King met her in the cloister garden, and it seemed to him that her complexion was much paler, her step slower, than usual.