"Speak--speak! Tell us all," cried Honorius.
"Pollio!" gasped the messenger.
"What of him?" said Marcellus sternly.
"He is arrested--he is in prison!"
At that intelligence a shriek burst forth which sounded fearfully amid the surrounding horrors. It came from the Lady Caecilia. The next moment she fell heavily, to the floor.
The bystanders hurried to attend her. They carried her away to her own quarters. There they applied the customary restoratives and she revived. But the blow had struck heavily, and though sense and feeling returned, yet she seemed like one in a dream.
Meanwhile the messenger had recovered strength and told all that he knew.
"Pollio was with you, was he?" asked Marcellus.
"No, he was alone."
"On what errand?"