“Ha!” cried Agellius, starting as if an asp had bitten him.
Jucundus kept silence, and let the poison of the said asp work awhile in his nephew’s blood.
Agellius put his hands before his eyes; and with his elbows on his knees, began moving to and fro, as if in intense pain.
“I repeat what I have said,” Jucundus observed at length; “I do really think that she imagines a certain young gentleman is likely to be in trouble, and that she is determined to share the trouble with him.”
“But it isn’t true,” cried Agellius with great vehemence; “it’s not true.... If she really is not a Christian, O my dear Lord, surely they won’t put her to death as if she was?”
“But if she has made up her mind to be in the same boat with you, and will be a Christian while you are a Christian, what on earth can we do, Agellius?” asked Jucundus. “You have the whole matter in a nutshell.”
“She does not love me,” cried Agellius; “no, she has given me no reason to think so. I am sure she does not. She’s nothing to me. That cannot be the reason of her conduct. I have no power over her; I could not persuade her. What, what does all this mean? and I shut up here?” and he began walking about the little room, as if such locomotion tended to bring him out of it.
“Well,” answered Jucundus, “it is easy to ascertain. I suppose you could be let out to see her.”
But he was going on too fast; Agellius did not attend to him. “Poor, sweet Callista,” he exclaimed, “she’s innocent, she’s innocent; I mean she’s not a Christian. Ah!” he screamed out in great agony, as the whole state of the case unrolled itself to his apprehension, “she will die though not a Christian; she will die without faith, without love; she will die [pg 253]in her sins. She will die, done to death by false report of accepting that, by which alone she could be carried safely through death unto life. O my Lord, spare me!” and he sank upon the ground in a collapse of misery.
Jucundus was touched, and still more alarmed. “Come, come, my boy,” he said, “you will rouse the whole neighbourhood. Give over; be a man; all will be right. If she’s not a Christian (and she’s not), she shall not die a Christian’s death; something will turn up. She’s not in any hole at all, but in a decent lodging. And you shall see her, and console her, and all will be right.”