'They murdered him by my side.

O father! father! he loved me; he would have reverenced and protected you!' 'May the merciful God receive him among the blessed angels, and honour him among the holy martyrs!' cried the father, raising his tearful eyes in supplication.

'May his spirit, if it can still be observant of the things of earth, know that his name shall be written on my heart with the name of my child; that I will think on him as on a beloved companion, and mourn for him as a son that has been taken from me!' He ceased, and looked down on Antonina, whose features were still hidden from him.

Each felt that a new bond of mutual affection had been created between them by what each had spoken; but both now remained silent.
During this interval the thoughts of Numerian wandered from the reflections which had hitherto occupied him.

The few mournful words which his daughter had spoken had been sufficient to banish its fulness of joy from his heart, and to turn him from the happy contemplation of the present to the dark recollections of the past.