'But little.'
'Ah, cunning dog! I saw thee turn thy picture quickly away as I entered, and, swiftly as thou didst it, I had time to catch a glimpse of a girl as High Priestess offering sacrifice to Hecate. Am I right?'
'Thou speakest knowingly, good Varro.'
'Chios, I am not wide of the mark, and shall I say the face was that of Saronia? Art thou a seer, Chios? After all, then, my news was not news to thee? Thou art a sly fellow!'
'No, I am not a seer.'
'Well, then, we will call thee painter; but one thing is certain, thou hast studied her closely, to remember her features so well. Thou hast a keen appreciation of the beautiful, and an excellent knowledge of the future, to paint Saronia as High Priestess. Farewell, Chios; I am off. We meet to-night, and may the gods be propitious!'
That evening Chios visited Venusta's home, the house of his friend. The Roman was there. Lucius had sailed o'er sunny seas to Britain. Nika seemed happy, and laughed with joyous glee as if she had never one day of sorrow.
Venusta was delighted to behold Chios, and said:
'Why hast thou kept so long from us? We thought thou wouldst never return, and long since looked up our stray sayings to find if perchance we might have unwittingly offended thee. But naught could we find whereby we could pronounce ourselves guilty, so concluded thou hadst found some pretty maid during the Artemision month, and wert busy preparing for thy nuptials. Is it so, Chios?'
'No.'