The unconscious officer's wound was hastily but skilfully bound up and the blood stanched, he was raised in a lectica or litter, and carried home with great care to his mansion. In the quietest chamber of the house, he was laid upon a costly bed, one of rare wood with feet of ivory and with purple coverlets curiously broidered with gold.
Titanus, having done his utmost, had gone away with Carnion, much cast down, the more so that he was under command by the emperor to leave Rome immediately on foreign service.
Coryna was left beside her brother, with the physician and a faithful intelligent slave. The depth of her feelings could not be sounded, yet there was staying power of a kind. Grief, admiration and anxiety surged around a will of rock. Within, a whirling storm: without, a pallid calm. She watched for the first signs of consciousness as the eagle watches for its prey.
Tharsos lay as if in death, with the soft light of serenity still on his manly face and classic brow. He moved at last and opened his eyes.
"Where is the Christian maiden?" said he in dreamy feebleness, his expression changing into a look of anxiety.
Much relieved in tension, Coryna answered softly—
"Some kind one quickly conveyed her away, my brother, but I have sent several of our slaves over the city to find out her lodging-place and to enquire after her health."
A radiant joy covered his face, and he remained silent for a little. Then he spoke with quiet earnestness:—
"My sister, thou knowest her worth. Look after her, I pray thee, for her own sake, and for the sake of Him she serves so well. But"—and here he halted, trying painfully to take a deep breath.
"Speak not, my brother," said Coryna soothingly.