Leander signified the Church, and what hope was there that he could gain his end against such an opponent ?--more formidable than Bessas, more powerful, perhaps, than Justinian.

Were Veranilda imprisoned in some monastery, he might abandon hope of beholding her again on this side of the grave.
Yet it was something to know that she had not passed into the hands of the Greeks; that she was not journeying to the Byzantine court, there to be wedded against her will.

Cheered by this, he felt an impulse of daring; he would see Petronilla.
'Leo! Lead me to the chamber.' The freedman besought him not to be so rash, but Basil was possessed with furious resolve.

He drove the servant before him, through the atrium, into a long corridor.

Suddenly the silence was broken by a shriek of agony, so terrible that Basil felt his blood chilled to the very heart.