Sir,—Circumstances have conspired to cause me to change the special order which I gave thee concerning the heretic, Victor Serenus. I was then minded to reserve him for unwonted punishment, and that speedily; but behold I now order that thou at once release him, upon the condition that he leave the Holy City before the rising of to-morrow’s sun, never to return.
Saulus,
Deputy of the Sanhedrin.”
Before the hours of evening were far advanced, the hearts of Amabel and the mother of Serenus were made glad by his arrival. Their surprise could hardly have been greater had he dropped from the skies.
“O children of the New Faith!” exclaimed the mother; “God is good! All is good! Even out of seeming evil springeth good! The law of the Lord is perfect!”
“What a day of fulfilment!” said Serenus. “Prison doors are opened through the power of the Truth. Bonds are stricken off, not by an interposition which suspends divine law, but through its perfect and orderly working.”
“Yea,” said Amabel; “the loving thought which thou hast held towards Saulus, even though unknown by him, hath borne its fruit.”
“The condition of my freedom,” said Serenus, “is that I leave the Holy City before the rising of to-morrow’s sun, never to return; but this in no wise disquiets me.”
Amabel’s cheeks grew pale, but she was silent.
“In time past,” continued Serenus, “it often seemed expedient that I depart from here, that peradventure I might kindle the flame of the New Faith in strange [pg 234]cities. But that concerning which I was formerly in doubt hath now been made clear to me. While in the prison cell, the Inner Guide prompted me that I should depart, but I wot not how it would come to pass. I must go, even to Rome, that from the heart of the world I may witness for the truth.”
He cast an inquiring look at Amabel.