On the morrow,
therefore, they proceeded on their journey. Nicaeus had procured a
litter for Iduna, for which her delicate health was an excuse to
Alexina and her sisters, and they were attended by a small body of
well-armed cavalry, for, according to the accounts which Nicaeus had
received, the country was still disturbed. They departed at break of
day, Nicaeus riding by the side of the litter, and occasionally making
the most anxious inquiries after the well-being of his fair charge. An
hour after noon they rested at a well, surrounded by olive-trees, until
the extreme heat was somewhat allayed; and then remounting, proceeded
in the direction of an undulating ridge of green hills, that partially
intersected the wide plain. Towards sunset the Prince of Athens
withdrew the curtains of the litter, and called the attention of Iduna
to a very fair castle, rising on a fertile eminence and sparkling in
the quivering beams of dying light.
"I fear," said Nicaeus, "that my friend Justinian will scarcely have
returned, but we are old comrades, and he desired me to act as his
Seneschal.
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