CHAPTER XII
Zoe sat in the dark just within the open doorway of Zeno's house,before the marble steps. She was shivering with cold, now that thedanger to herself was over, and she was bent with pain, though shescarcely knew she was hurt; for she was conscious only of her anxietyfor Zeno. If he got out of the tower and reached his home, he wouldcertainly come in by that door, since he had left it open, and the oneon the land side was barred; and there was a way of coming round thehouse to the water's edge without entering the gate or passing throughthe fore-court.
Zeno had unconsciously stepped upon her body with his whole weight ingetting out, when she lay hidden in the bottom of the boat, but shewould rather have died than have made a sound or winced under thepressure. And now her side hurt her, and the pain ran down to her kneeand her foot, so that she had hardly been able to walk after Gorliashad helped her ashore.
It had been impossible to hinder her from getting in, when she had rundown to the landing while Zeno was changing his clothes; there had notbeen time, and she had not waited to argue the question, but hadsimply whispered to Gorlias that she was going, and that he must hideher as well as he could, and say nothing. He was not a man to beeasily surprised, and he reflected that as she was in the secret, andas it was her influence that had decided Zeno to act at last, shemight possibly be useful; as indeed she afterwards proved herself tobe. Besides, Gorlias thought it likely that Zeno had told her all hisplans, although he did not wish to take her with him; for theastrologer was not at all clear as to the relations existing betweenthe master and the slave.
She sat alone and shivering in the dark. Gorlias had left her and hadhastened back to the foot of the tower to remove all traces of theunsuccessful attempt before daybreak, by throwing the dead body intothe water with a weight, and carrying off the gear that had been leftlying on the sloping pier. Zoe thought he must be of iron. He had beensome time in the water in his clothes, and had probably been more orless bruised in the struggle, and in rolling down the stones, if notby the fall at the end. But he seemed as calm and collected as ever,and apparently had no idea of drying himself before morning.
Zoe thought of him only very vaguely as of a person connected withZeno, round whom alone the whole world had moved since she had knownthat he loved her; and in her imagination she followed him on after hehad reached the tower window the second time and had whistled the callthat told her he was safe so far.
It was agonising to think of his danger. She did not believe that hecould possibly escape from within the prison through the palaceprecincts; in some way or other he must succeed in climbing down thewall again, and Gorlias would find him and bring him home. But whenshe had said this to the astrologer, he had shaken his head. Therewere good reasons why Zeno should not attempt the perilous descentthat night, when there had just been an alarm from below of which itwas not possible to let him know the result. Moreover, no one knewwhether the man whom Zoe had struck had sunk and was drowned, or hadparried the blow with his arm and had succeeded in swimming ashore.Neither Gorlias nor Zoe knew that yet, and they might never know it.
She waited, but not a sound disturbed the silence of the chilly night.Within the house every one was sleeping; the two little slave-girls,curled up on their carpet in the corner, where Zoe had left them,would not wake till dawn; Omobono slept the sleep of the just in hissmall bedroom behind the counting-house, dreaming of the mysteries offour toes and five toes, and quenching his insatiable curiosity atlast in the overflowing fountain of fancy. As for the servants andslaves, all slumbered profoundly, after the way of their kind.
But Zeno did not come. Zoe crouched in the doorway, and drew theskirts of her long Greek coat round her little white feet more thanhalf instinctively, for she did not care if she died of the cold,since he did not come.
A mad longing seized her to go out into the city to look for him inthe dark and silent streets; he might be lying somewhere, wounded andalone, perhaps left for dead; if she did not come upon him she wouldpush on to the great gate of Blachernae; and she was sure that shecould find the way, though it was far. She would slip in, unnoticed bythe sentries; she would pass herself for a woman of the palace, whereshe had often been taken by Kyria Agatha in the happy days; sheremembered where the great tower stood in the corner of the palaceyard, the farthest corner to the right, and she could almost see itsdoor, though indeed she had never noticed one. He was somewhere behindit, somewhere in there, above or below ground, caught in the trap,waiting for the dawn of his dying day. For Andronicus would not lethim live. If he was taken, his hours were numbered. He must die thedeath Michael Rhangabe had died; there was none more cruel.
As she thought of it, there alone in the cold, a sharp pain bit at herheart, and in the gloom she could no longer make out the white marblesteps, the chequered black-and-white pavement, nor the lastunextinguished lights of Pera reflected in the water; she saw nothing,and she sank back against the step behind her, fainting andunconscious.
She lay there alone, quite still; but he did not come. When she openedher eyes again she thought she had fallen asleep, and was angry withherself at the thought of having rested while he was in danger of hislife. She would go out to find him, come what might. Then she tried toget upon her feet, and was startled to find that she could not.Chilled to the bone and bruised as she was, she could not move herlimbs, and she wondered in terror whether she were paralysed. But shewas brave still, and after a time she managed to turn on one side,and with her hands on the cold step she laboriously got upon herknees. Sensation came back and pain with it, and presently she wasable to raise herself by holding the edge of the door, first on oneknee, then on her feet. But that was all, and she knew that she coulddo no more. Perhaps she might crawl upstairs by and by, after restinga little.
She stood still a long time, holding the door and hesitating, for inher intense anxiety it seemed impossible to think of giving up andgoing to bed. He must come. It would be late, it might be daylight,but he must come; for if he came not, that could only mean that he wastaken, and if he was taken he must die.
Again the pain bit savagely at her heart, but she set her lips andgrasped the door with both hands, and refused to let herself faint.
She could at least rouse Omobono and the household to go out andsearch for the master. She had almost let go of the door to make thefirst step forward, when the counter-thought checked her. The attemptto free the Emperor had been made very secretly; if she called thesecretary, the servants, the slaves, she would be revealing thatsecret, and if, by some miracle, Zeno were still free and safe, someone might betray him. Some one must have betrayed him already, elsethe watch would not have come upon him exactly at the most criticalmoment. The three men had been lurking near, waiting till he was onthe rope the second time, and expecting to catch him in the very actof bringing out the prisoner. Who was the traitor? Most probably someone in the house. It would not be wise to call the servants, afterall.
The hopelessness of it all came over the lonely girl now, and shealmost let herself sink down again upon the steps to wait tilldaylight, if need be, for the awful news that was sure to reach heronly too soon. Gorlias would bring it, and no one else.
But she was too proud to give way altogether, unless she faintedoutright. It was torture, but she would bear it, as he would if hewere taken. Perhaps at that very moment they were questioning himbefore Andronicus, twisting his handsome limbs till the jointscracked, or holding red-hot irons close to his blistering feet. Hewould set his teeth and turn white, but he would not speak; he wouldbe torn piecemeal and die, but his tormentors would not get a wordfrom him, not a syllable. Again and again, she felt the pain inimagination; but she wished that she could indeed feel it for him, andbe in his place at that moment, if he were suffering. The pain wouldbe less, even the pain of the rack and the glowing irons, than theagony of being powerless to help him.
Now, the time seemed endless; now, again, an hour passed quickly in awaking dream, wherein Zeno was vividly before her, and she liv
ed againthe moments that had taught her the truth in the touch of his lips.Then, the world was dark once more and she was alone and shivering,and mad with anxiety for the one living thing she loved.
He did not come. The northern stars sank to the west and he did notcome; they touched the horizon, yet he did not come; an icy breathforeran the coming dawn, and still he came not, but still Zoe waited.
Then the stars faded, and the sky was less black, and she thought daywas coming; but it was the faint light of the waning moon rising abovethe Bosphorus. It was not light, now, but the thick darkness hadbecome transparent; it was possible to see through it, and Zoe saw askiff come silently alongside the landing. It was Gorlias; he mooredthe craft quickly and came up the steps. Zoe had recognised hisoutline, because she expected him, and she made a step to meet him,though it hurt her very much to move. He came quickly and securely, asmen do who can see at night, like cats and wild animals; when he wasnear, Zoe even fancied that his eyes emitted a faint light of theirown in the dark, but her imagination was no doubt disturbed by herbodily pain and terrible mental anxiety.
'Has he not come yet?' Gorlias asked in a low tone.
The question could only mean that Zeno was taken, and Zoe grasped theastrologer's arm in sudden fear.
'He is lost!' she exclaimed. 'They will kill him to-morrow!'
'It is not easy to kill Carlo Zeno,' answered Gorlias, rubbing hisstiffened hands, and then slowly pulling each finger in successiontill the joints cracked. 'He is not dead yet,' he added.
'Not yet!' echoed Zoe despairingly.
'No,' said Gorlias, 'for he got out of the palace.'
'Got out? You are sure?' Zoe could have screamed for joy; therevulsion was almost too sudden.
'Yes, I am sure of that. There is a search for him in all the quartersabout the palace. When I had cleared everything away below the tower,I dropped downstream to a quiet place I know, and went ashore to learnwhat I could. The great gate of Blachernae was open, the court was fullof lights, and the guards had been called out. Half of them werereeling about, still very drunk, but I met many that were more sober,searching the streets and lanes with lanterns. I lingered till thesame party found me twice and looked at me suspiciously, and then Islipped away again and came here. I do not believe any of them knowwhom they are looking for; they have only been told that some one hasbroken out of the palace, I suppose. That made me think that Zeno hadcome quietly home, quite sure that he had not been recognised.'
Gorlias told his story in the low, monotonous tone peculiar to him,which seemed to express the most perfect indifference to anything thatmight happen. But Zoe cared nothing for his way of telling what wasjust then the best possible news. Zeno was not safe yet, but she knewhim well enough to feel sure that if he had not been taken within thepalace, he had little to fear. Sooner or later he would come home, asif nothing had happened. Gorlias understood her sigh of relief.
'You must go in and rest, Kokona,' he said, and he quietly pushed hertowards the door. 'I will watch till daylight in the boat, in case heshould come and need anything.'
She could hardly walk, and he now noticed her lameness for the firsttime, and asked the cause of it.
'He stepped on me when I was lying under the canvas,' she answered.'But it is nothing,' she added quietly. 'I hardly felt anything atfirst.'
'I will carry you,' said Gorlias.
Before she could prevent him, he had lifted her in his arms and wascarrying her into the house. He knew the way up to her apartment,having been to see her there, and he stepped easily and surely withhis burden, his bare feet hardly making any sound on the marble steps.She lay across his arms like a thing without weight, borne along as amaid carries a fresh gown that she is afraid of ruffling. But theman's arms and clothes were wet and cold, and even his breath chilledher.
Her nerves were overwrought, and she was foolishly frightened now. Thestairs were very dark, and the touch of the man who carried her waslike that of a wet monster of night, cold and horribly strong, holdingher and carrying her in his vast arms as the autumn night wind whirlsthe leaves along. He never paused for breath, he never stopped to tryand see the steps under his feet; he only went on and up, up, up, tillshe fancied she was not in Zeno's house, but in some high andmysterious tower to which she had been suddenly transported by anawful being from another world who was taking her to the top and wouldhurl her from the highest turret into space.
But now Gorlias stood still and set her on her feet at her own door,steadying her by her shoulders, and guiding her in, for he could seethe ray of light that crept out between the curtain and the doorpostof the inner entrance.
He lifted the heavy stuff and still supported her with his other hand.After being so long in the dark the light of the little lamps wasdazzling, though they were burning low. Three or four of them hadalready gone out, and the acrid smell of the burnt-out olive-oil andthe singed wicks hung in the air.
Saw her sink down there exhausted, and draw a heavy silk shawl across her body.]
Gorlias watched Zoe while she limped over the thick carpet to thedivan, and he saw her sink down there exhausted, and draw a heavy silkshawl across her body.
'Thank you,' she sighed, as her weary head pressed the pillow at last.
But he had already dropped the curtain again and was gone, and almostat the same instant she shut her eyes and fell asleep.
Gorlias reached the bottom of the stairs without waking any one,closed the door, which he could not fasten, and got into his boat towait for Zeno until daybreak, and also to watch lest any one shouldtry to enter the house.
But no one came, neither Zeno, nor any messenger from him, nor anystealthy thief; and at last the dawn rose behind Constantinople anddissolved the night, and the poor waning moon had not much light leftand almost went out altogether as the day broke. Then Gorlias drew hisoars inboard, and laid them across the boat before him, leaning hiselbows on them and resting his chin upon his folded hands, like a manin deep thought; and he let the craft drift slowly away towards theBosphorus, into the morning mist.
Also, the dawn crept into the house between the half-closed shuttersof Zoe's room and made the lingering flame of the last lamp seem but asmoky little yellow point in the cold clearness; and the girl's paleface, that had taken a golden tinge from the lamplight, now turned aswhite as silver.
Also, the coming sun waked Omobono, and he sat up in bed and gravelyrubbed his eyes, quite unaware that anything had happened during thenight; and it roused the slaves and the servants, and presently allthe house was astir; and Yulia and Lucilla got up too and came softlyand stood beside Zoe, who did not stir, and they wondered at her deepsleep and at the weariness of her face, and at the look of pain allabout her mouth.
But where Zeno was the light did not enter; for dawn and sunset, andnoon and midnight were all alike there.
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