The messenger came in, covered with dust and jaded, having left his tired horse at the gate; and offered her a sealed packet.
Her hand trembled as she took it; and while she was unloosening its bands, she hesitatingly asked:
“From my father?”
“About him, at least,” was the ominous reply.
She opened the sheet, glanced over it, shrieked, and fell. Sebastian caught her before she reached the ground, laid her on a couch, and delicately left her in the hands of her handmaids, who had rushed in at the cry.
Monogram of Christ, found in the Catacombs.
One glance had told her all. Her father was dead.
CHAPTER VIII.
DARKER STILL.
