But she blushed up to the roots of her hair.
"You knew that good friends of yours were concerned in the conspiracy; you wished first to warn them before the plot was betrayed."
"Yes," she stammered. "Photius, the freedman----"
"And yet another," whispered Cethegus, "who, scarcely freed from Theodora's gilded prison, would only exchange it for the vaults of the Bosphorus."
Antonina covered her face with her hands.
"I know all, Antonina--the slight fault of former days, the good resolutions of a later time. But in this case your old inclination has ensnared you. Instead of thinking only of Belisarius, you thought also of his welfare. And if Belisarius now falls, whose is the guilt?"
"Oh! be silent! have pity!" cried Antonina.
"Do not despair," continued Cethegus. "You have still a strong prop, one who will be your advocate with the Emperor. Even if banishment be threatened, the prayers of your friend Theodora will prevent the worst."
"The Empress!" cried Antonina, in terror. "Oh, how she will misrepresent! She has sworn our undoing!"
"That is bad," said Cethegus--"very bad! For the Empress also knows of the conspiracy, and of the invitations to Belisarius. And you know that a much less crime than that of being invited to join a conspiracy is sufficient----"