'heir'; that
is to say, he became the legal representative of the dead man, and was
charged with the distribution of those parts of the estate bequeathed
to others. First of the legatees stood Aurelia. The listeners learnt
with astonishment that the obstinate heretic was treated as though her
father had had no cause of complaint against her; she was now mistress
of the Surrentine estate, as well as of the great house in Rome, and of
other property. A lamentable thing, the deacon admitted suavely; but,
for his part, he was not without hope, and he fixed his eyes with a
peculiar intensity on the troubled bishop.

Petronilla drew near. The will was already known to her in every
detail, and she harboured a keen suspicion of the secret which lay
behind it. Leander, she could not doubt, was behaving to her with
duplicity, and this grieved her to the heart. It was to the bishop that
she now addressed herself.

'Holy father, I am your suppliant. Not even for a day will I remain
under this roof, even if--which is doubtful--I should be suffered to do
so. I put myself under the protection of your Holiness, until such time
as I can set forth on my sad journey to Rome. At Surrentum I must abide
until the corpse of my brother can be conveyed to its final resting
place--as I promised him.'

Much agitated, the prelate made answer that a fitting residence should
be prepared for her before noon, and the presbyter Andreas added that
he would instantly betake himself to the city on that business.
Petronilla thanked him with the loftiest humility. For any lack of
respect, or for common courtesy, to which they might be exposed ere
they quitted the villa, she besought their Sanctities not to hold her
responsible, she herself being now an unwilling intruder at this
hearth, and liable at any moment to insult. Uttering which words in a
resonant voice, she turned her eyes to where, a few yards away, stood
Aurelia, with Basil and Decius behind her.

'Reverend bishop,' spoke a voice not less steady and sonorous than that
of the elder lady, 'should you suffer any discourtesy in my house, it
will come not from me, but from her who suggests its possibility, and
whose mind is bent upon such things. Indeed, she has already scanted
the respect she owes you in uttering these words. As for herself,
remain she here for an hour or for a month, she is in no danger of
insult--unless she deem it an insult to have her base falsehood flung
back at her, and t