Unto Caesar

by Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy

  CHAPTER XIV

  "Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voicelike him."--JOB XL. 9.

  A few moments later Licinia came running back into the room.

  "Augusta!" she exclaimed excitedly even before she had crossed thethreshold. "Augusta! quick! the Caesar!"

  Dea Flavia started, for she had indeed been suddenly awakened from adream. Slowly, and with eyes still vague and thoughtful, she turned toher slave.

  "The Caesar?" she repeated, whilst a puzzled frown appeared between herbrows and the young blood faded from her cheeks. "The Caesar?"

  "Aye," said the old woman hurriedly. "He is in the atrium even now,having just arrived, and his slaves fill the vestibule. He desiresspeech with thee."

  "He does not often come at this hour," said Dea Flavia, whose face hadbecome very white and set at mention of a name which indeed had thepower of rousing terror in every heart just now. "Doth he seem angered?"she asked under her breath.

  "No, no," said Licinia reassuringly, "how could he be angered againstthee, my pet lamb? But come quickly, dear, to thy robing room; whatdress wilt put on to greet the Caesar in?"

  "Nay, nay," she said with a tremulous little laugh, "we'll not keep mykinsman waiting. That indeed might anger him. He has been in this roombefore and hath liked to watch me at my work. Let him come now, an hewills."

  Licinia would have protested for she loved to deck her darling out inall the finery that, to her mind, rendered the Augusta more beautifulthan a goddess, but there was no time to say anything for even now theCaesar's voice was heard at the further end of the atrium.

  "Do not disturb your mistress. I'll to her myself. Nay! I'll not beannounced. 'Tis an informal cousinly visit I am paying her thismorning."

  "He seemeth in good humour," whispered Dea Flavia, whose little handswere trembling as they made pretence once more of taking up themodelling tools. Licinia hurriedly tried to smooth down the golden hairwhich had become unruly during the course of the morning, but in herhaste only succeeded in completely disarranging it and it fell in wavymasses down the young girl's shoulders, all but one plait which remainedfixed over her brow like a wide band of gold.

  Dea uttered an exclamation of horror and made a quick gesture, trying tocapture the recalcitrant curls, even at the very moment that the EmperorCaligula entered the room.

  He paused on the threshold and her arms dropped down to her side. Hergolden hair fell all round her as she bent her knees making obeisance tothe Caesar. There was nothing regal about her now, nothing imperious orproud; she looked just like a child caught unawares at play.

  Blushing with confusion she advanced toward her kinsman, and with headbent received his kiss upon her pure forehead. Nor did she shrink atthis loathsome contact which would have filled almost any other woman'sheart with horror. To her this man was not really human--he was theCaesar--a supernatural being blessed by the gods, and endowed by themwith supreme majesty and power.

  "Dismiss thy slaves," he said curtly, "I would have speech with thee."

  He had well schooled his turbulent temper to calmness. After CaiusNepos' departure and a final outburst of unbridled violence, he hadplunged into a cold bath and given himself over for half an hour to theministrations of his slaves. Then, cool and refreshed--at any rateoutwardly--he had dressed himself in simple robes, and passing rightthrough the halls of the Palace of Tiberius which adjoined his own, hehad reached the precincts of Dea Flavia's house, which in its turnabutted on that built by Germanicus.

  At any other time but the present one--when his frenzied mind was whollygiven over to thoughts of the terrible treachery against his ownperson--he would have been conscious of Dea Flavia's exquisite beauty,as she stood before him, humble with the proud humility of one who haseverything to give and nothing to receive; chaste with that pureignorance which refuses to know what it cannot condone, and withal aperfect woman, imbued with a fascination which no man had ever been ableto resist, for it was the fascination of youthful loveliness combinedwith the stately aloofness of conscious power.

  At any other time but this, the unscrupulous voluptuary would have gazedon his beautiful kinswoman with eyes that would have shamed her withtheir undisguised admiration, and mayhap his look and actions would haveplaced a severe test on her loyalty and on her respect for him.

  But to-day Caligula only saw in her the tool whom conspirators meant touse for their treacherous ends, her loveliness paled in his eyes beforethe awful suspicion which he had of her guilt, and whilst she stoodquietly awaiting his pleasure, he marvelled how much she knew of thetraitors' plans and whether her white fingers would effectually thrustthe dagger into an assassin's hand.

  She had dismissed her slaves at his bidding--all unconscious as she wasof any danger that might threaten her through him. He waited for a whilein silence, then he said abruptly:

  "Dea Flavia, what is thine age?"

  She looked up at him, smiling and puzzled.

  "Some twenty years, great Caesar," she replied, "but of a truth I had notkept count."

  "Twenty years?" he retorted, "then 'tis high time that I chose a husbandfor thee."

  This time she looked up at him boldly, and although in her glance therewas all the respect due to the immortal Caesar, yet was there no show ofhumility in her attitude as she threw back the heavy masses of her hairand drew up her slender figure to its full stately height.

  "Was it to tell me this," she asked simply, "that the greatest of Caesarssought his servant's house to-day?"

  "In part," he rejoined curtly, "and I would hear thine answer."

  "My lord has not deigned to ask a question?"

  "Art prepared to accept the husband whom I, thine Emperor will choosefor thee?"

  "In all things do I give thee honour and reverence, O Caesar," shereplied, "but----"

  "But what?"

  "But I had no thought of marriage."

  "No thought of marriage!" he retorted roughly as, unable to sit still,harassed by rage and doubt, he once more started on that restless walkof his up and down the room.

  She watched him with great wondering eyes. That something serious laybehind his questionings was of course obvious. He had not paid her thismatutinal visit for the sole purpose of passing the time of day; and shedid not like this strange mood of his nor his reference to a topic overwhich he had not worried her hitherto.

  In truth the thought of marriage had never entered her head, even thoughLicinia--with constant garrulousness--had oft made covert allusions tothat coming time. She knew--for it had been instilled into her fromevery side ever since her father had left her under the tutelage of theCaesar--that she must eventually obey him, if one day he desired that sheshould marry.

  A young patrician girl would never dream of rebellion against the powerof a father or a guardian, and when that guardian was the Caesar himselfand the girl was of the imperial house, the very thought of disobediencesavoured of sacrilege.

  But hitherto that question had loomed ahead in Dea Flavia's dreams ofthe future only as very shadowy and vague. She had never given a singlethought to any of the young men who paid her homage, and their effortsat winning her favours had only caused her to smile.

  She had felt herself to be unconquerable, even unattainable, andCaligula, before this mad frenzy had fully seized hold of him, had--inhis own brutish way--indulged her in this, allowing her to lead her ownlife and secretly laughing at the machinations that went on around himto obtain the most coveted matrimonial prize in Rome.

  Now suddenly this happy state of things was to come to an end; herfreedom, on which she looked as her most precious possession, was to betaken roughly from her. One of the men whom she had despised, one ofthat set of libertines, of idle voluptuaries who had dangled round herskirts whilst casting covetous eyes upon her fortune, was to become hermaster, her supreme lord, and she--a slave to his desires and to hispassions.

  Strangely enough the thought of it just now was peculiarly horrible toher--the thought of what the Caesar
's wish might mean--the inevitablenessof it all nauseated her until she felt sick and faint, and the walls ofthe room began to swing round her so that she had to steady herself onher feet with a mighty effort of will, lest she should fall.

  She knew the Caesar well enough to realise that if he had absolutely sethis mind on her marriage nothing would make him swerve from the thought.If he once desired a thing he would never rest night or day until hiswish had been fulfilled.

  Men and women of Rome knew that. Patricians and plebs, senators andslaves, had died horrible deaths because the Caesar had demanded and theyhad merely thought to disobey.

  Therefore it was with wide-open, terror-filled eyes that she watchedthat tyrannical master in his restless walk up and down the room.

  Outside greater darkness had gathered, heavy clouds obscured the light,and the gorgeous figure of the Caesar now and then vanished into the darkangles of the room, reappearing a moment later like some threateningghoul that comes and goes, blown by the wind which foretells the comingstorm.

  After a while Caligula paused in his walk and stood close beside her,looking as straight as he could into her pale face.

  "No thought of marriage?" he repeated, with one of his mirthless laughs,"no thought, mayhap, of the husband whom I would choose for thee? Nodoubt there is even now lurking somewhere in this palace a young gallantwho alone has the right to aspire to Dea Flavia's grace."

  "My lord is pleased to jest," she said coolly, "and knows as well as Ido that no patrician can boast of a single favour obtained from me."

  "Then 'tis on a slave thou hast chosen to smile," he said roughly.

  Then as she did not deign to make reply to this insult, he continued:

  "Come! Art mute that thou dost not speak when Caesar commands?"

  "What does my lord wish me to say?"

  "Hast a lover, girl?"

  "No, my lord."

  "Thou liest."

  "Did I deceive my lord in this, then had I not the courage to lookboldly in the Caesar's face."

  "Bah!" he said with a snarl, "I mistrust that maidenly reserve which mencall pride, and I, clever coquetry. The women of Rome have realised,fortunately by now, that they are the slaves of their masters, to bebought and sold as he directs. The wife must learn that she is the slaveof her husband, the daughter that she belongs to the father; the womenof the House of Caesar that they belong to me."

  "It is a hard lesson my lord would teach to one half of his subjects."

  "It is," he said with brutal cynicism, "but I like teaching it. I hopeto live long enough--nay! I mean to live long enough--to establish amarriage market in Rome, where the lords of the earth can buy what womenthey want openly, for so many sesterces, as they can their cattle andtheir pigs."

  She recoiled from the man a little at these words and a blush of shameslowly rose to her cheek. But she retorted calmly:

  "The gods do speak through Caesar's mouth and he frames the laws even asthey wish."

  Her words flattered his egregious vanity which had even as great, if nota greater, hold upon him than his tyrannical temper. He knew that tothis proud girl he was as a god, and that her respect for his Caesarshipmade her blind to every one of his faults, but this additional simpletestimony from her pure lips caused him to relent towards her, and quiteinstinctively made him curb the violent grossness of his tongue.

  "Thou speakest truly, O Dea Flavia," he said complacently. "The godswill, when the time comes, speak through my mouth and make known theirwill through my dictates even as they have done hitherto--even as theydo at this moment when I tell thee that I desire to see thee married."

  "My lord hath spoken," she said calmly.

  "Do not think, O Dea Flavia," he continued, carried away by his owneloquence, "that I desire aught but thy happiness. If I decide to givethee for wife to a man, it shall only be to one who is worthy of thee inevery respect. Thou shalt help me to choose him ... for I have not yetmade my choice ... he shall testify before thee as to his nobility andhis bravery.... An thou dost assure me that thou hast not yet bestowedthy regard on any man----"

  He paused midway in his phrase with indrawn breath, waiting for herreply. She gave it firmly and without hesitation.

  "I have cast my eyes on no man, my lord, and have no desire to marry."

  "Wouldst consecrate thy virginity to Vesta then?" he asked with a sneer.

  "Rather that," she replied, "if my lord would so deign to command."

  "Tush!" he broke in impatiently. "Herein thou dost offend the gods andme! 'Tis impious to waste thy beauty in barren singleness; the gods hatethe solitary maid unless she be ill-favoured and unpleasing to everyman. Thou of the House of Caesar hast a mission to fulfil and canst notfulfil it thus in isolation, fashioning clay figures that have no lifewhich they can consecrate to Caesar. But have no fear, for I, thy lord,do watch over thy future--the man whom I will choose for thee will beworthy of thy smiles."

  He drew up his misshapen figure to its full height and beamed at theyoung girl with an expression of paternal benignness. He was delightedwith himself, delighted with his own oratory. He was such a bornmountebank that he could even act the part of kindness and benevolence,and he acted it at this moment so realistically that the ignorant,confiding girl was taken in by his tricks.

  She saw the gracious smile and was too inexperienced, too devoted, tosee the hideous leer that he was at pains to conceal.

  "The choice will be difficult, gracious lord," she said, feelingsomewhat reassured, "and will take some time to make."

  "Therefore will I trust to inspiration," he rejoined blandly.

  "The gods no doubt will speak when the time comes."

  "Aye! They will thunder forth their decree at midday to-morrow," saidCaligula, with well-assumed majesty.

  "To-morrow, O my lord?"

  "Thou hast said it. I have a fancy to make known my decree in thismatter during the games at the Circus to-morrow. So put on thy richestgown, O Dea Flavia Augusta," he added with a sneer, "so as to appearpleasing in thy future husband's sight."

  "My gracious lord is pleased to jest," she said, all her fears returningto her in a moment with an overwhelming rush that made her sick withhorror.

  "Jest!" he retorted with a snarl, showing his yellow teeth like a hyenaon the prowl, "nay! I never was so earnest in my life. Is not the futureof my beloved ward of supreme importance to me?"

  "Nay, then, good my lord," she pleaded earnestly, her young voicetrembling, her blue eyes fixed appealingly on the callous wretch, "I dobeg of thy mightiness to give me time ... to think ... to ..."

  "I have done all the thinking," he broke in roughly, "thou hast but toobey."

  "Indeed, indeed," she entreated, "I have no wish to disobey ... but mygracious lord ... do I pray thee deign to consider ..."

  "Silence, wench!" he shouted, with a violent oath, for what he deemedher resistance was exasperating his fury and reawakened all his formersuspicions of her guilt. "Cease thy senseless whining.... I, thineEmperor, have spoken. Let that suffice. Who art thou that I shouldparley with thee? To-morrow thou'lt go to the Circus. Dost hear? Anduntil then remain on thy knees praying to the gods to pardon thyrebellion against Caesar."

  And with an air which he strove to render majestic he turned on his heeland prepared to go. But in a moment she was down on her knees, her handsclutching his robe. She would not let him go, not now, not yet, whilstshe had not exhausted every prayer, every argument, that would softenhis heart towards her.

  "My gracious lord," she pleaded, whilst her trembling voice was almostchoked with sobs, "for pity's sake do hear me! I am not rebellious, nordisobedient to thy will! I am only a humble maid who holds all herhappiness from thee! My gracious lord thou art great, and thou artmighty, thou art kind and just. Have mercy on me, for my whole heart isbrimming over with loyalty for thee! I am free, and am happy in myfreedom; the men who fawn round me, coveting my fortune, fill me withdisgust. I could not honour one of them, my lord! I could not give oneof them my love. Thou who
art so great, must know how I feel. I implorethee leave me my freedom, the most precious boon which I possess, and mylips will sing a paean of praise to thee for as long as I live."

  But Caligula was not the man whom a woman's entreaties would turn fromhis purpose, more especially when that purpose was his ownself-interest. This wretch had no heart within him, no sensibility, notone single feeling of pity or of loyalty.

  His instinct must have told him that Dea Flavia was loyal to the core,loyal to the Caesar and to his House, but so blinded was he by rage andhumiliation and by the terror of assassination, that he saw in theearnest, simple pleadings of a young girl and devoted partisan nothingbut the obstinate resistance of a would-be traitor.

  The more did Dea plead, the more did he become convinced that alreadyher choice of a husband was made, and that that husband was destined towrench the sceptre of Caesar from him and to mount Caesar's throne overhis murdered body. With a brutal gesture he pushed the young girl fromhim.

  "Silence!" he shouted, as soon as choking rage enabled him to speak."Silence, I say! ere I strike thee into eternal dumbness. What I havesaid, I've said. Dost hear me? To-morrow, at the Circus, I will name thyhusband, and then and there thou shalt accept him, whoever he may be. Ihave a reason for wishing this--a reason of State far beyond thecomprehension of a mere fool. To-morrow thou shalt accept the man of mychoice as thy future lord. That is my will. Look to it, O daughter ofCaesar, that thou dost obey. Caesar hath spoken."

  "Caesar hath spoken," she pleaded, "but my gracious lord will relent."

  "Dost know me, girl?" he retorted, as, bending down to her, he seizedher wrists in his and brought his flushed face all distorted by fury,close to her own. "Dost know me? For if so hast ever seen me relent onceI have set my will? Look into my eyes now! Look, I say!" he shoutedhoarsely, giving her wrists and arms a brutal wrench. "Do they look asif they meant to relent? Is there anything in my face to lead thee tohope that thou wouldst have thy treacherous way with me?"

  He held her wrists so cruelly that she could have screamed with thepain, but she bit her lip to still the cry.

  Daylight now was yielding to the oncoming storm. Dense shadows hung allround the room, making the objects in it seem weird and ghost-like inthe gloom. Sudden gusts of wind swept angrily round, causing thewithered leaves and dying flowers in the vases to murmur with unearthlysounds, as of the sighing of disembodied souls. Only through theaperture above a streak of greyish light struck full upon the Caesar, as,with glowing eyes and cruel grasp, he compelled her to look on him.

  For a moment she closed her eyes after she had looked, for never beforehad she seen anything so hideous and so evil. His misshapen head lookedunnaturally large as it seemed to loom out at her from out the gatheringdarkness, his hair stood up sparse and harsh all round his forehead. Hiseyes were protruding and shot through with blood; his lips were dry andcracked, his cheeks of a dull crimson and heavy sweat was pouring downhis face.

  When she turned away from him in horror, he broke into that wild laughof his which had in it the very sounds of hell.

  "Well!" he said with a leer, "hast seen my face? Art still prepared todisobey?"

  "No, my lord," she said slowly, and fixing her eyes fully upon his now,"but I am prepared to die."

  "To die? What senseless talk is this?"

  "Not senseless, my good lord. Even the gods do allow us poor mortals tofind refuge from sorrow in death."

  "So!" he said slowly, still gripping her wrists and peering into herface till his scorching breath made her feel sick and faint. "That isthe way thou wouldst defy the will of Caesar? Death, sayest thou?...Death and disobedience--rather than submission to the wish of him whohas god-like power on earth. Death!" and he laughed loudly even whilstfrom afar there came, faint and threatening, the nearer presage of thecoming storm. "What death? A pleasing, dreamless sleep brought on bydrugs? A soothing draught that lulls even as it kills--or hadstperchance thought of the arena?... of the tiger that roars?... or thelictor's flail that drives?... hadst thought ... hadst thought ..."

  He was foaming at the mouth, his rage was choking him; he had only justenough strength left in him to tear at the neck of his tunic, for thenext moment he would have fallen, felled like an ox by the power of hisown fury. But as soon as he had released Dea Flavia's wrists and shefelt herself free to move, she rose from her knees, and with quick,almost mechanical gesture, she rearranged her disordered robe and shookback the heavy masses of her hair. Then she stood quite still, with armshanging by her side, her head quite erect and her eyes fixed upon thatraving monster. When she saw that he had at last regained some semblanceof reason she said quite calmly:

  "My gracious lord will work his way with his slave, and deal her whatdeath he desires."

  "What!" he murmured incoherently, "what didst thou say?"

  "'Tis death I choose, my lord," she said simply, "rather than a husbandwho was not of mine own seeking."

  For a moment then she did look death straight and calmly in the face,for it was death that looked on her through those blood-shot eyes. Hehad thrust his lower jaw forward, his teeth, large and yellow, lookedlike the fangs of a wolf; stertorous breathing escaped his nostrils, andhis distorted fingers were working convulsively, like the claws of abeast when it sees its prey.

  Caligula would have strangled her then and there without compunction andwithout remorse. She had defied him and thwarted him even morecompletely than she knew herself; and there was no death so cruel thathe would not gladly have inflicted upon her then.

  "Dost dare to defy me...!" he murmured hoarsely, "hast heard what Ithreatened ..."

  She put out her hand, quietly interrupting him.

  "I heard the threat, my lord ... and have no fear," she said.

  "No fear of death?"

  "None, gracious lord. There is no yoke so heavy as a bond unhallowed.No death so cruel as the breaking of a heart."

  There was dead silence in the room now; only from a far distant rolls ofceaseless thunder sent their angry echo through the oppressive air.Caligula was staring at the girl as he would on some unearthly shape.Gasping he had fallen back a few steps, the convulsive twitching of hisfingers ceased, his mouth closed with a snap, and great yellow patchesappeared upon his purple cheeks.

  Then he slowly passed his hand across his streaming forehead, hisbreathing became slower and more quiet, the heavy lids fell over theprotruding eyes.

  Caius Julius Caesar Caligula was no fool. His perceptions, in fact,became remarkably acute where his own interests were at stake, and hehad the power of curbing that demoniacal temper of his, even in itsmaddest moment, if self-advantage suddenly demanded it.

  He had formed a plan in his head for the trapping of the unknown man whowas to mount the throne of Caesar over the murdered body of his Emperor.Before dealing with the whole band of traitors he wished to know who itwas that meant to reap the greatest benefit by the dastardly conspiracy.There was one man alive in Rome at the present moment who thought tobecome the successor of Caligula; that one man would be bold enough towoo and win Dea Flavia for wife.

  Caligula's one coherent thought ever since Caius Nepos had betrayed theconspiracy to him, was the desire to know who that man was likely to be.That was the man he most hated--the unknown man. Him he desired topunish in a manner that would make all the others endure agonies ofhorror ere they in turn met their doom. But his identity was still amystery. To discover it, the Caesar had need of the help of this girlwho stood there so calmly before him, defying his power and his threats.He looked on her and understanding slowly came to him ... understandingof the woman with whom he had to deal. It dawned upon him in the midstof his tumultuous frenzy that here he had encountered a will that hecould never bend to his own--an irresistible force had come in contactwith an unbending one. One of the two must yield, and Caligula, staringat the young girl who seemed so fragile that a touch of the hand mustbreak her, knew that it was not she who would ever give in.

  His well-matured plan he would not gi
ve up. He had thought it all outwhilst he refreshed himself in his bath after Caius Nepos' visit, and itwas not likely that any woman could, by her obstinate action, moveCaligula from his resolve. But obviously he must alter his tactics if hedesired Dea Flavia's help. He could gain nothing by her death savemomentary satisfaction, and the matter was too important to allowmomentary satisfaction to interfere with the delights of future completerevenge.

  Therefore he forced himself to some semblance of calm. He was a perfectmountebank, a consummate actor, and now he called to his aid his fullpowers of deception. Cunning should win the day since rage and coercionhad failed.

  Slowly his face lost every vestige of anger and sorrowful serenity creptinto his eyes. Tottering like one who feels unmanned, he sought thesupport of a chair and fell sitting into it, with his elbows on hisknees and his head buried in his hands.

  "Woe is me!" he moaned, "woe to the House of Caesar when its fairestdaughter turns traitor against her kin!"

  "I! a traitor, good my lord!" she rejoined quietly. "There is notreachery in my desire to serve Caesar in single maidenhood, or to offerthee my life rather than my freedom."

  "There is black treachery," he said with tremulous voice like one indeep sorrow, "in refusing to obey the Caesar."

  "In this alone----"

  But it was his turn now to interrupt her with a quick raising of thehand.

  "Aye! That is what the waverer says: 'Good my lord, I'll obey in allsave in what doth not please me!' Dea Flavia Augusta, I had thought theeabove such monstrous selfishness."

  "Selfishness, my lord?"

  "Aye! Art thou not of the House of Caesar? Art thou not my kinswoman?Dost thou not receive at my hands honour, position, everything thatplaces thee above the common herd of humanity? Were I not the Caesar,where wouldst thou be? Not in this palace surely, not the virtual queenof Rome, but, mayhap, a handmaid to another Caesar's wife, an attendanton his daughter.... Thou dost seem to have forgot all this, Augusta."

  "Nay, gracious lord, I have forgot nothing! Your goodness to me----"

  "And yet wouldst deliver me over into the hands of mine enemies," hesaid with increased dolefulness, "and not raise a finger to save me."

  "I would give my life for the Caesar," she interposed firmly, "and thisthe Caesar knows."

  "Wouldst not even take a husband, when by so doing thou wouldst save theCaesar from death."

  "My gracious lord speaks in riddles ... I do not understand."

  "Didst not understand, girl, that I but wished to test thy loyalty tome? Thou--like so many alas!--dost so oft prate of unbounded attachmentto Caesar. To-day, for the first time, did I put that attachment to thetest, and lo! it hath failed me."

  "Try me, my lord," she said, "and I'll not fail thee. But give me thytrust as well as thy commands."

  She advanced close to where he sat, apparently a broken-down, sorrowfulman, stricken with grief. The mighty Caesar now was far more powerfulthan he had been a while ago when he raged and stormed and threatened,for he had appealed to the strongest feeling within her--he had appealedto her loyalty.

  Slowly she sank once more on her knees, not in entreaty now, not withthoughts of self, but in the humble subjection of herself to the needsof him whom the gods had anointed. She sank upon her knees, and withthat simple action she offered her happiness on the altar of her loyaltyto him and to her house.

  Gone was the look of defiance from her eyes, the pride had vanished andall the joy of life; no thought was left in the young mind now save anoverwhelming sense of loyalty, no feeling lingered in the heart save thedesire for self-sacrifice.

  The Caesar had commanded and since she could not disobey she was ready todie; memory had in a swift flash called up before her the vision of aman who, rather than yield to her caprice, had smiled at the thought ofdeath. And she, too, had almost smiled, for suddenly she had understoodhow small a thing was life when slavery became its price.

  But now all that had changed. The Caesar pleaded and made appeal to herloyalty. Her refusal to obey him was no longer pride, it wasdisloyalty--almost sacrilege. The Caesar called to her! It was as if thegods had spoken, and she fell on her knees, ready to obey.

  The consummate actor was clever enough to hide the triumph that lit uphis eyes when he saw her thus kneeling, and understood that she wasprepared to yield.

  He stretched out a paternal hand, and with weary sadness stroked hergolden hair.

  "Trust me, gracious lord," she reiterated, "my life is thine, do with itwhat thou wilt."

  "Traitors are at work, Dea Flavia, to murder the Caesar," he said gently.

  "Ye gods!" she murmured, horrified.

  "Aye! wouldst think mayhap that the gods will interfere? They will? Itell thee that they will! but they have need of thee, Augusta! I, thyCaesar, thy god do have need of thee!"

  With both hands now he took her own in his, not roughly, but withinfinite tenderness, and cunningly contrived that two hot tears shouldfall upon her fingers.

  "My gracious lord!" she whispered, "my life is at thy service."

  "Accept the husband whom I propose for thee ... and my life will besafe.... Refuse to obey me in this and to-morrow the blood of Caesar willbe upon thy head...."

  "My lord...."

  "Wilt obey me, Augusta?"

  "My gracious lord ... I do not understand," she pleaded; "have pity onmy ignorance ... trust me but a little further...."

  "I cannot tell thee more," he said with a sigh of patient weariness,"but this I do tell thee, that my life and with it the future of ourHouse--of the Empire--now lie in thy hands. The abominable traitorswould make a tool even of thee. 'The husband of Dea Flavia Augusta,'they say, 'shall succeed the murdered Caesar!'"

  She uttered a cry of horror.

  "Their names," she murmured, "tell me their names."

  "I know but a few."

  "Which are they?"

  "They speak of Hortensius Martius."

  "Oh!"

  "And of young Escanes ... also of Philario, my servant."

  "Ye gods," she exclaimed, "let your judgments fall upon them."

  "And of Taurus Antinor--the praefect of Rome," added the Caesar, and asavage snarl escaped his lips even when he spoke the name.

  "Taurus Antinor!" she exclaimed.

  Then half-audibly she murmured to herself, repeating the Caesar's words:

  "They would make a tool of thee!"

  She had fallen back, squatting on her heels, her hands clasped beforeher and her head sunk upon her bosom, bowed with shame and with horror.Her name had been bandied about by traitors, her person been bought andsold as the price of the blackest sacrilege that had ever disgraced thepatriciate of Rome.

  "And thou, Taurus Antinor," she whispered inaudibly, "art the blackesttraitor amongst them all."

  There was no need now for the Caesar to make further appeal to herloyalty. She was loyal to him--body and soul--loyal to him and to herHouse, ready to sacrifice her pride, her freedom if need be at a wordfrom the Caesar, since he had said that by her action on the morrow shecould help him fight the treacherous infamy.

  Caligula could well be satisfied with his success; nor did he try topress his advantage further. All that he had wanted was the assurancethat she would not thwart him when he put into execution the plan whichhe had conceived. The man-trap which he had set would not now failthrough Dea's obstinacy.

  He thought that the time had come for ending the interview. He desiredthat her receptive mind should retain a solemn impression of his majestyand of his power. A charlatan to the last, he now rose to his feet andwith outstretched arm pointed upwards to the small glimpse ofleaden-covered sky.

  "Jove's thunders still speak from afar," he said with slow emphasis,"but to-morrow they will crash over Rome and over the traitors withinher walls. The air will be filled with moanings and with gnashing ofteeth; the Tiber will run red with blood, for the murdered Caesar willmayhap be crying vengeance upon the assassins. Wilt save the Caesar, ODea Flavia? Wilt save Rome and the E
mpire from a deadly crime and thedevastating vengeance of the outraged gods?"

  He towered above her like some inspired prophet, with arms stretched outtowards the fast approaching storm, and eyes uplifted to thethunderbolts of Jove.

  "I await thine answer," he said, "O daughter of the Caesars."

  "My answer has been given, gracious lord," she murmured, "have I notsaid that my life was at thy service?"

  "Thou'lt obey?"

  "Command, O Caesar!"

  "To-morrow at the Circus ... dost understand?... I have a plan ... andthou must obey ... blindly ... dost understand?" he reiteratedhoarsely.

  "I understand, my lord."

  "I'll name thy future husband to the public ... to the plebs ... to all... and thou'lt accept him--before them all--without demur...."

  "As my lord commands."

  "This thou dost swear?"

  "This do I swear."

  "Then," said the mountebank with mock reverence as he placed hishand--blood-stained with the blood of countless innocent victims of histyranny--upon the bowed head of the loyal girl, "receive the blessing ofJupiter the victorious, of Juno the holy goddess, and of Magna Mater thegreat Mother, for thou art worthy to be of the House of Caesar."

  But even as the last of these impious words had left his lips, the longawaited storm broke out in sudden fury; a vivid flash of lightning rentthe sky from end to end and lit up momentarily every corner of the room,the kneeling figure of Dea Flavia, the misshapen figure of the imperialmonster, the fading flowers in the vases. Then a mighty clap of thundershook the very foundations of Dea Flavia's palace.

  Caligula uttered a wild shriek of terror, and, calling loudly for hisslaves, he fled incontinently from the room.