He then asked advice from Auristella and the others, as to what he should do, for he could not expect a very gentle reception from his brother.
Auristella was thunderstruck at the unexpected tidings, and in an instant vanished alike the hopes of preserving her maiden freedom, and of retaining the company of her loved Periander.
As for the rest of the party they were all busy thinking what advice it would be best to give Periander. The first who offered any was the rich and enamoured Hippolyta. She proposed to take Periander and his sister with her to Naples, and spend her hundred thousand and more of ducats with them there.
The Calabrian Pyrrhus heard this offer, for he was by, and to him it was like a death-blow; for in a ruffian soul like his, jealousy is engendered, not by disdain, but self-interest, and as his would suffer with the loss of Hippolyta, despair for some moments took possession of him, during which he treasured up in his heart a mortal hatred against Periander, whose grace and beauty, great as they were, seemed magnified yet greater in his eyes, for such is the natural effect of jealousy.
Periander thanked Hippolyta, but did not accept her liberal offers. The others had no time to advise anything, for at this instant Serafido and Rutilio came up, and scarcely had they both caught sight of Periander than they ran and threw themselves at his feet, for his change of dress could not change his graceful figure. Rutilio clasped his waist, Serafido hung upon his neck, Rutilio wept with delight, and Serafido with joy and tenderness.
The bystanders watched this extraordinary and happy meeting with the warmest interest. Pyrrhus alone stood gloomily apart, his secret fury preying upon his vitals; and at last, so great was his envy and rage, to see how Periander was respected and beloved, that, impelled by blind passion, and hardly knowing what he did, he plunged his sword into Periander's right shoulder with such force, that the point came out at his left, taking a slanting direction from side to side.
Hippolyta was the first who saw the blow given, and her shriek was first heard crying out, "Ah, traitor! ah, fatal enemy of my peace, hast thou slain him who deserved to live for ever?" Serafido opened his arms, Rutilio loosened his, all bathed in the warm blood of Periander, who sank into those of Auristella. She had no power to speak, to breathe, or even to weep. His head fell upon her breast, and his arms hung down on either side. This sudden stroke, which then appeared more fatal than it afterwards proved, filled all those who witnessed it with horror, and left them pale as death. The great flow of blood was what seemed to threaten Periander's life, at least Auristella looked as if it was about to depart. Serafido and Rutilio arrested the assassin, and in spite of his strength and savage ferocity, they secured him, and with the help of several persons, who had by this time come up, he was taken to prison, and the governor in a few days after sentenced him to the gallows, as an incorrigible villain and assassin. His death was a great relief to Hippolyta, who henceforwards felt able to call her life her own.
