Way! I say."
Through the ranks of people was borne a large chair, gilded and
wrought in graceful form, adapted to such a woman as Octavia, reported
to be possessed of enormous wealth. The embroidered curtains were
tightly drawn, so that the passerby could not look in, but so curious
were they to see the lady whose name was familiar to all, owing to the
valuable services rendered by her illustrious husband to the State,
that the people crowded the steps of the Law Courts to watch Octavia
and her daughter Hermione descend.
They drew their veils closely, but a murmur of admiration arose as
Hermione's veil slipped aside and revealed cheeks of cream and rose,
eyes inherited from some northern hero, of deep violet blue, and hair,
arranged in ringlets, in the style of the age, of a red-brown tint.
Hastily, the two ladies passed into the dark corridors of the court,
and were soon admitted to the private office of Aurelius Lucanus. Two
attendants, who had walked behind the chair all the way from the Villa
to guard their mistress and her daughter, waited in the ante-chamber
with Alyrus, whose duty it was to remain here until the lawyer's day
of work was over.
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