. The sorceress of Rome. feredhand. At last the Chamberlain rose to leave the hall. The sotinds of lutes and harps quivered through the Grovesof Theodora; flutes and cymbals, sistrum and tympani mingledtheir harmonies with the tempest of sound that hovered overthe great orgy, which was now at its height. The banquet-hall whirled round him like a vast architectural the dizzy glare he beheld perspectives and seeminglyendless colonnades. Everything sparkled, glittered, andbeamed in the light of prismatic irises, that crossed and shatteredeach other in the air. Viewed through tha
. The sorceress of Rome. feredhand. At last the Chamberlain rose to leave the hall. The sotinds of lutes and harps quivered through the Grovesof Theodora; flutes and cymbals, sistrum and tympani mingledtheir harmonies with the tempest of sound that hovered overthe great orgy, which was now at its height. The banquet-hall whirled round him like a vast architectural the dizzy glare he beheld perspectives and seeminglyendless colonnades. Everything sparkled, glittered, andbeamed in the light of prismatic irises, that crossed and shatteredeach other in the air. Viewed through that burning haze eventhe inanimate objects seemed to have waked to some fantasticrepresentation of life. — But through if all he saw one face,supremely fair in its marble cold disdain, — and unable toendure the sight longer Benilo the Chamberlain rushed outinto the open. In the distance resounded the chant of pilgrims traversingthe city and imploring the mercy and clemency of heaven. 7* CHAPTER VI JOHN OF THE CATACOMBS. NCE outside of the pavillion,Benilo uttered a sigh of had resolved to act withoutdelay. Ere dawn he would beassured that he held in hisgrasp the threads of the was no time to be he hurried, the phantomof the murdered girl floatingbefore his eyes in a purple bearing himself ostensibly in the character of amere man of pleasure, Benilo the Chamberlain lost noopportunity of ingratiating himself with the many desperatespirits who were to be found in the city ready andwilling to assist at any enterprise, which should tend tocomplicate the machine of government. While he rushed intoevery extravagance and pleasure, surpassing the companionsof his own rank in his orgies, he suffered no symptoms of adeeper feeling to escape him, than that of excellence in trifling,the wine cup, the pageant, the passing show. It may havebeen a strain of mongrel blood. Altering through his veins,which tempered his endurance with the pliancy essen
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