"I shall never," she answered, "forget your kindness day after day to me, and I shall always love you as my brother. But any other relationship there cannot be!"
"I see it all plainly," he said. "You too have been infected by this new plague: you have withdrawn your affections to bestow them on another?"
"And suppose I have," said Flavia, grasping at another mode of calming his excitement. "You are too high in rank, too proud to accept the hand of one who cannot bestow her heart with it?"
"By Hercules! I know who this Christian enchanter is, and by the honor of a Roman knight—"
"Then, if you know him well, you cannot blame me for bestowing my affections on him. He is so beautiful, so noble, so glorious beyond the sons of men. His teeth are whiter than milk, and the words of his mouth are like the dripping of the honey-comb. He is encompassed with perpetual youth, and crowned with a comeliness which shall never fade. All these enduring qualities he promises to confer on me if I will love and serve him!"
"Love him then, infatuated girl! But serve him you never shall, if the sword and fortune of Aurelian can prevent it!"
"Aurelian, my brother! I will pray and ask him that you also may know him; for, if you did, you could not help loving and serving him."
"Do you wish to mock my misery," he bitterly asked, "now that you have blighted all on which my hopes of happiness rested? But, Flavia! remember I am not to be put off, if the power of Domitian can crush this Christian viper! Remember your uncle's fate!"
And turning be left the room.
To Be Continued.