ide the fate of my grandchild and
Adalgoth.'"

CHAPTER XIII.

"Well," laughed the King, "thou hast spared me the trouble, Duke of
Apulia!"

"And the little duchess," added Valeria, "has, as if she had foreseen
what was coming, already adorned herself like a bride."

"In honour of _you_," said the shepherdess. "When I heard of this feast
as I entered the gates of Roma, I opened my bundle, as my grandfather
had bidden me, and put on my ornaments."

"Our betrothal," said Adalgoth to his bride, "has fallen upon the day
of the King's betrothal; shall our wedding take place also on the
wedding-day of the royal pair?"

"No, no!" interrupted Valeria hastily, almost anxiously. "Add no other
to a vow which is yet unfulfilled! You children of Fortune, be wise.
You have to-day found each other. Keep to-day fast, for to-morrow
belongs to the unknown!"

"Thou speakest truth!" cried Adalgoth. "Even today shall be our
wedding!" and he lifted Gotho upon his left arm, and showed her to all
the people. "Look here, ye good Goths! This is my little wife and
duchess!"

"With your favour!" said a modest voice. "When so much sunshine falls
upon the summits and heights of the nation, the lower vegetation would
also gladly share some of its warmth."

A homely-looking man approached the King, leading a pretty girl by the
hand.

"Is it thou, brave Wachis?" cried Earl Teja, going up to him. "And no
longer a bond-servant, but with the long hair of a freedman?"

"Yes, sir. My poor master. King Witichis, gave me my liberty when he
sent me away with Mistress Rauthgundis and Wallada. Since then I have
let my hair grow. And my mistress--I know it for a fact--was about to
free Liuta, so that we might be married according to the law of the
nation; but, alas, my mistress never returned to her home at Faesulae.
But I returned just at the right moment to save Liuta, for the very
next day the Saracens burnt the house and murdered all whom they found.
After Mistress Rauthgundis's death--leaving no one to claim the
inheritance, for a storm had buried her father Athalwin under an
avalanche--Liuta became the King's property; and therefore I would beg
the King to take me again as a bond-servant, so that we may not be
punished if we marry, and----"

"Wachis, thou art indeed faithful!" cried Totila, interrupting him.
"No! thou shalt contract a free marriage! Give me a gold-piece."

"Here, King Totila," said Gotho