The turban which I wore, without attracting
attention, in the Asiatic rather than in the Martial form, was of
white mingled with red; a novelty which seemed to Eveena's eyes
painfully ominous. In Martial language, as in Zveltic symbolism,
crimson generally takes the place of black as the emblem of guilt and
peril. When Esmo re-entered our chamber for a moment to summon me, he
was invested, as in the Shrine itself, in the full attire of his
office, and I was recalled to a recollection of the reverence due to
the head of the Brotherhood by the sudden change in Eveena's manner.
To her father, though a most respectful, she was a fearlessly
affectionate child. For Clavelta she had only the reverence, deeply
intermingled with awe, with which a devout Catholic convert from the
East may approach for the first time some more than usually imposing
occupant of the Chair of St. Peter. Before the arm that bore the
Signet, and the sash of gold, we bent knee and head in the deference
prescribed by our rules--a homage which the youngest child in the
public Nurseries would not dream of offering to the Campta himself.
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