"Pray then to your guardian saint, if of such a one you boast," he continued after a pause, "to intervene, should temptation in its most alluring form face you again," he said with deliberate slowness. "You witnessed the end of Fabio of the Cavalli?"—
Tristan shuddered.
"And yet there was a time when he called all these charms his own, and his command was obeyed in Theodora's gilded halls."
"Can love so utterly vanish?" Tristan queried with an incredulous glance at the speaker.
Basil gave a soundless laugh.
"Love!" he said. "Hearts are but pawns in Theodora's hands. Her ambition is to rule, and he who can give to her what her heart desires is the favorite of the hour. Beware of her! Once the poison of her kisses rankles in your blood nothing can save you from your doom."
Basil watched the effect of his words upon his listener and for the nonce he seemed content. Tristan would take heed.
When Tristan had taken his leave a panel in the wall opened noiselessly and Il Gobbo peered into the chamber.
Basil locked and bolted the door which led into the corridor, and the sinister, bat-like form stepped out of its dark frame and approached the inmate of the chamber with a fawning gesture.
"If your lordship will believe me," he said in a husky undertone, "I am at last on the trail."