. The sorceress of Rome. e it from this also: If now you fail hardly thegrave would be a refuge. Benilo peered up at his strange counsellor. Man or devil, — who are you to read the depths of the soulof man ? he queried amazed, vainly endeavouring to penetratethe vizor, which shaded the harpers face. Perhaps neither, a voice answered which seemed to come 17* THE SORCERESS OF ROME from the remotest part of the great hall^ yet it was Hezilo theharper, who spoke, Perchance some spirit, permitted toreturn to earth to goad man to his final and greatest fall. It shall be as you say! Benilo spoke, rou
. The sorceress of Rome. e it from this also: If now you fail hardly thegrave would be a refuge. Benilo peered up at his strange counsellor. Man or devil, — who are you to read the depths of the soulof man ? he queried amazed, vainly endeavouring to penetratethe vizor, which shaded the harpers face. Perhaps neither, a voice answered which seemed to come 17* THE SORCERESS OF ROME from the remotest part of the great hall^ yet it was Hezilo theharper, who spoke, Perchance some spirit, permitted toreturn to earth to goad man to his final and greatest fall. It shall be as you say! Benilo spoke, rousing himself. Onward! Relentlessly! Unflinchingly! He staggered from the hall. Perhaps I too should have flagged and failed, had not onethought whispered hope to me in the long and solitary hourswhich fill up the interstices of time, muttered the harper,gazing after the Chamberlains vanishing form. The voices died to silence. The pale light of dawn peeredinto the deserted hall. 172 CHAPTER XIV THE PHANTOM AT THE SHRINE. T last the evening had come,when Eckhardt was for ever toretire from the world, to spendthe remainder of his days inprayers and penances, withinthe dismal walls of the pontiff himself was toofficiate at the high ceremony,which was to close the lastchapter td the great generalslife. Daylight was fading fast, and the faint light, whichstill glimmered through the western windows of St. PetersBasilica had long since lost its sunset ruddiness and was littlemore than a pale shadow. The candles, their mighty rivaldeparted, hlazed higher now in merry fitfulness, delighting toplay in grotesque imagery over the monkish faces, whichhatmted the gloom. One end of the Basilica was now luminous with the paleglow of innumerable slender tapers of every length, ranged ingradated order round the altar. Their mellow radiance drovethe gloom a quarter of the way down the cathedral. Themassive bronze doors at the farther end were still shut andlocked. The only way of en
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