While these words were uttered, all who were present involuntarily bared their heads. Manlius did the same, without knowing why. The others knelt down; he, too, fell on his knees.
"I have persecuted you wrongfully," he faltered, extending his arms, "Take vengeance on me."
"The God of Love commands us to forgive our persecutors. Leave this place in peace and confidence. Though you should betray us, torture us, slay us, we will pray for you."
"May I be accursed if I do so. Never can I leave you calmly, for you have filled my heart with unrest. The terrible words of the avenging God arrested me in my path. I read in your face the words of the all-pardoning God. Oh, give me comfort. Must I lose two heavens: one above, the other in your heart?"
"The heaven of love is closed against no one," said Sophronia, pointing upward with holy devotion.
Manlius clasped the outstretched hand, and raising it to his lips, asked with tender emotion:
"The God of Love does not forbid earthly love," replied Sophronia, with a radiant smile.
Manlius, his face glowing with happiness, sank at the young girl's feet, resting at her side like a tamed lion, while through the hall rang the hymn of joy which teaches rejoicing with those who rejoice.
The grey-haired patriarch laid his hand upon the new catechumen's head, and the dying God looked in benediction upon them all.
The next day it was old Mesembrius' first care to send for his daughter and speak to her of Manlius, whom, of course, he praised according to his deserts.
The young girl's cheeks glowed during the conversation, and, as her face betrayed, she confessed to her father, with sincere joy, that she had long loved the young soldier.
Mesembrius could not find words to express his pleasure. He embraced Sophronia again and again, and with tears of happiness placed her in the arms of Manlius, who entered at that moment.
"My only blessing," he faltered, in tones trembling with emotion.
"O my father," said Sophronia mournfully, "do not say your only blessing. You have another daughter."
"May my curse rest upon her head. Hasten your marriage, and then go far, far away from here. So far that not even a cloud from this sky can follow you. This soil is already so laden with sins that it trembles every moment under them as if it could no longer bear the burden. Go hence, that you may not perish with the guilty. I only wish to live for the moment that I know you are happy and beyond the two seas; then, for aught I care, death or Carinus may come."