"It may be
Commodus. We are so near that it is hard to know how the head would
look if the statue were set up."
He was thinking very little of the statue just then, as he knelt on
its colossal chest beside Sabina, and watched the play of the yellow
light on her delicate face. There was just room for them to kneel
there, side by side.
It was magnificent, as Sabina had said, the great glittering thing,
lying all alone in the depths of the earth, an enormous golden demigod
in his tomb.
"You are wonderful!" exclaimed Sabina, suddenly turning her face to
Malipieri.
"Why?"
"To have found it," she explained.
"I wish I had found something more practical," he answered. "In my
opinion this thing belongs to you, and I suppose it represents a small
fortune. But the only way for you to get even a share of it will be by
bringing a suit against Volterra. Half a dozen rubies like the one in
the ring would have been enough for you, and you could have taken them
home with you in your pocket."
"I am afraid I have none!" Sabina laughed.
"This one will be safe in mine," Malipieri answered.
"You are not going to take it?" cried Sabina, a little frightened.
"Yes. I am going to take it for you. I daresay it is worth a good deal
of money."
"But--is it yours?"
"No. It is yours."
"I wonder whether I have any right to it.
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