Can such gossip begin without cause?
Tell me now, how often have you been yonder since I left Rome ?' Basil could scarce contain himself.

He had visited Heliodora, yes, but merely because he would neglect no chance of learning where Veranilda was imprisoned; it was not impossible that through this woman such a secret might be discovered.

He the rival of that debauched boy! He the lover of Heliodora! Had he sunk so low in the esteem of his best friend?
Why, then, it was time indeed to be gone: befall him what might, he could not be unhappier in Constantinople than here in Rome.
At these words, Marcian checked him with a surprised inquiry.

What had turned his thoughts to Constantinople?
Basil related the events of yesterday and of this morning.
'What other counsel could you have expected from Pelagius ?' said Marcian, after listening attentively.

'But on one point I can reassure you.