Sydney laughed.
"Hardly," he said. "Marriage is but a material convenience, and there are not many who have reached that state when the unity of souls becomes desirable; but nevertheless there are those living whose marriage is a foretaste of a union which shall be made perfect through death. But often the complement of a spirit is not on this earth, though they have met in some previous existence."
"Do you know," I asked, "to whose spirit yours will be united?"
"I do," he answered; and the accent on the words drew my attention to his face: there I read such depth of love and hope as I have never seen light up the features of man or woman. "It was," he said, "while in the spirit-world that I learnt much of what I have now told you. But I learnt more than this, for I was able to look into the past, and to see the why and wherefore of many things that had previously puzzled me here. It was something that I had thus discovered which induced me to buy the land and build this present house. Beyond that panel, through which we are going, lies one of the secrets of my past. But I must explain one more thing to you before we go.
"The higher the form of spirit life, the longer it usually takes for souls to unite. In the lower orders these changes may occur every few minutes; in the higher, centuries may intervene."
Sydney now got up, and motioning me to follow, went to a sliding panel, touched a spring, and we passed together into a narrow passage. After descending some winding steps, which must have brought us to about twenty-five feet below the level of the house, we passed through another door into a large covered courtyard which, except for its domed roof and polygonal shape, reminded me of one of the Pompeian houses.
"This," said my companion, "is, as far as I know, the only perfect Roman house in Britain, and the history of its preservation is very interesting. The stone roofing of the courtyard is also curious, resembling as it does more the covering of one of the Roman tombs to be found in St. Helena and Sta Costanza than the usual domestic style of architecture. It was in this very court that centuries ago I first met the girl I love, and have in many forms loved ever since. It was in that room beyond"--he pointed to one of the smaller apartments which could be seen through an open archway--"that a scene took place the effects of which have been felt to the present time."
After taking me over the building, which was in perfect preservation, and showing me the bath, kitchen and various rooms, he drew my attention to the mosaic floor and to various frescoes on the walls. The workmanship was very beautiful, but the scenes depicted were coarse and sensual.
"Now," he said, "that I have shown you one of the scenes of my life, we may as well go up to the room above. This place is cold, and if you wish to hear the story we shall find it more comfortable in our usual place."
As soon as we had returned to the laboratory my companion began his story of the past.