It was somewhat remarkable that all her romantic fantasies arrived at

this self-same dreary termination,--it appeared impossible for her even

to imagine any other than a disastrous result from her connection with

her ill-omened attendant.

This singularity might have meant nothing, however, had it not suggested

a despondent state of mind, which was likewise indicated by many other

tokens. Miriam's friends had no difficulty in perceiving that, in

one way or another, her happiness was very seriously compromised. Her

spirits were often depressed into deep melancholy. If ever she was gay,

it was seldom with a healthy cheerfulness. She grew moody, moreover, and

subject to fits of passionate ill temper; which usually wreaked itself

on the heads of those who loved her best. Not that Miriam's indifferent

acquaintances were safe from similar outbreaks of her displeasure,

especially if they ventured upon any allusion to the model. In such

cases, they were left with little disposition to renew the subject, but

inclined, on the other hand, to interpret the whole matter as much to

her discredit as the least favorable coloring of the facts would allow.

It may occur to the reader, that there was really no demand for so much

rumor and speculation in regard to an incident, Which might well enough

have been explained without going many steps beyond the limits of

probability. The spectre might have been merely a Roman beggar, whose

fraternity often harbor in stranger shelters than the catacombs; or one

of those pilgrims, who still journey from remote countries to kneel

and worship at the holy sites, among which these haunts of the early

Christians are esteemed especially sacred. Or, as was perhaps a more

plausible theory, he might be a thief of the city, a robber of the

Campagna, a political offender, or an assassin, with blood upon his

hand; whom the negligence or connivance of the police allowed to take

refuge in those subterranean fastnesses, where such outlaws have been

accustomed to hide themselves from a far antiquity downward. Or he might

have been a lunatic, fleeing instinctively from man, and making it his

dark pleasure to dwell among the tombs, like him whose awful cry echoes

afar to us from Scripture times.

And, as for the stranger's attaching himself so devotedly to Miriam, her

personal magnetism might be allowed a certain weight in the explanation.

For what remains, his pertinacity need not seem so very singular to

those who consider how slight a link serves to connect these vagabonds

of idle Italy with any person that may have the ill-hap to bestow

charity, or be otherwise serviceable to them, or betray the slightest

interest in their fortunes.

Thus little would remain to be accounted for, except the deportment of

Miriam herself; her reserve, her brooding melancholy, her petulance,

and moody passion. If generously interpreted, even these morbid symptoms

might have sufficient cause in the stimulating and exhaustive influences

of imaginative art, exercised by a delicate young woman, in the nervous

and unwholesome atmosphere of Rome. Such, at least, was the view of the

case which Hilda and Kenyon endeavored to impress on their own minds,

and impart to those whom their opinions might influence.




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