"May the Lord hear your prayer, my Naomi, and avert the doom that you almost seem to covet. Surely happier days are in store for you. You were always wont to speak to me of hope and courage, and I feel that I am not able to give you consolation. In your own pious and confiding spirit you will find it, when I am not here to use my feeble efforts. How rejoiced I am that your father has consented to go with us to Joppa! In three more days we shall, I hope, be safely journeying thither; and as we are to travel in the same litter, we shall enjoy many hours of undisturbed conversation and happiness together; and at Joppa too, we shall be together and happy. You will see Marcellus, and you will find how true is his attachment to you, in spite of time and absence. Naomi, if Zadok would consent, would you be my sister indeed? Would you unite yourself to Marcellus, now that he is no longer an idolater, and trust to your prayers and your instructions to bring him into the fold of Christ?"
A deep blush mounted to the pale cheeks of Naomi, and as rapidly subsided, while she subdued the emotion that was excited by Claudia's question, and replied as calmly as she could:
"I will not attempt to conceal from you, my dearest friend, that if I were permitted to choose my lot in life, I would rather be the wife of Marcellus than share the throne of the Emperor. I loved him as a child; and when we grew up I loved him still, in spite of his being a Roman and an idolater. Now he is a believer in the true God, and I feel confident he will one day be a believer also in his incarnate Son. Should that be the case, and we should then meet, with the same feelings of attachment with which we parted, it would be my greatest happiness to become your sister. But all this is a mere dream, and never likely to be realised. I must try to banish it from my thoughts, as I have so often done before."
"We shall see, dear Naomi. I prophesy better things," said Claudia gaily. "I begin to see everything on the bright side now; I suppose for the selfish reason that my own prospects are so happy and so prosperous. Three days will soon be gone, and Javan can hardly do us any injury in that time, and then all will be well except parting with you. Now let us return to the house, for our long absence may be observed, and remember we are to start before daybreak. I may not have another opportunity of talking to you alone."
As they rose from the marble bench on which they had been seated, a slight rustling was heard among the leaves of a thick clump of bushes very near them; and Naomi hastily laid her hand on Claudia's arm, and held up her finger in token of silence. They both looked earnestly before them, and distinctly saw a human font moving stealthily away, as if to avoid the path by which they were about to proceed towards the house.
"Javan!" whispered Claudia, in breathless agitation, when the figure had passed away, and was concealed in a distant thicket.
"The Lord forbid it!" replied Naomi, with a deep sigh. "If he has overheard our conversation, all your plans are detected, and we are all betrayed. Javan was leaving the great saloon, in deep conference with that dreadful-looking friend of his, Isaac, the counsellor, when we entered the gallery, and he certainly did not see us. But if any one has listened to our discourse it may be of serious consequence. Let us hasten back to my father and mother; and it may be that only the latter part of our conversation was heard, and that the listener may not know who we are."
At this moment a loud shout was heard from the house—the sound of the timbrels and the harps, which had come sweetly to the ears of the young maidens, mingled with the sighing of the evening breeze, suddenly ceased, and were succeeded by cries of terror and shrieks of pain. Lights were seen passing rapidly to and fro, and soon a number of women issued from the gallery, and fled in confusion through the garden.
It was evident that some terrible calamity had befallen, and Naomi and Claudia hastened to ascertain the cause of all the alarm. They met Mary of Bethezob and several of her female attendants hurrying to the darkest and thickest part of the garden, loaded with cups and vases of gold and silver, and rich brocaded furniture, which they seemed anxious to secure from some apprehended destruction.
"Is the dwelling on fire?" cried Naomi.