CHAPTER XXIX
"For the children of this world are in their generation wiserthan the children of light."--ST. LUKE XVI. 8.
Caius Nepos was the spokesman of the party. His high rank and greatinfluence with the guard under his command gave him certain privilegeswhich his friends were always willing to give him. They did not know ofhis treachery to them; nothing, indeed, had occurred to make them guessthat the man who, in a sense, had been the leader and organiser of theirparty, had betrayed them all to the Caesar in the hopes of greater gains,once he knew that his adherents had no thought of offering him theimperium.
The events of yesterday had changed the whole trend of Caius Nepos'ambitions. The people in its present temper was not like to accept himas the Caesar, even if he could persuade the praetorian guard to acclaimhim as such.
His one desire being his own advancement and his own interests, he hadalready realised that these were best served by adherence to DeaFlavia's fortunes, since the Caesar himself, whilst still in the fulnessof his power had named her and her descendants as his successors for alltimes. Caius Nepos, quick to seize his chance, and seeing the party ofpatrician malcontents aimless without a leader, had grasped hisopportunity and constituted himself once more their organiser.
Now whilst the others grouped themselves at a respectful distance roundthe Augusta, he stood quite close to her, with back bent and his face inshadow.
"Augusta," he began, "meseems that in thy heart thou hast alreadyguessed the purpose of our coming. The hour is rife and we do but waitthy command. We are at one in this: the praetorian guard will follow mydictates, the patriciate of Rome will bow the knee to thee. Augusta, thehour is rife! a raging madman, a cruel mountebank and abject coward hasthis day forfeited all rights to sit on the throne of Augustus, thineimmortal kinsman. Augusta, art prepared to deliver Rome finally fromunder the heel of a tyrant, and thyself to place the sceptre of Augustusin the hands of one who were worthy of the prize?"
"I, my lord?" she asked coldly, for Caius Nepos had paused in hisoratory, "I? How can I--a woman--decide on this great point? 'Tis forthe legions to proclaim their Caesar...."
"The legions," he broke in quietly, "will follow in the wake of thepraetorian guard, and the praetorian guard will listen to my voice. Theybelieve that the Caesar is dead; they will soon believe that the will ofRome lies in this, that the final choice of his successor shall restwith thee."
Then as she made no reply but sat quite still and thoughtful, her smallhand shielding her face so that it was in shadow, her elbow resting onthe delicately carved wood of the chair, Caius Nepos drew a step or twonearer: he bent his long back nearly double and sank his voice to aninsinuating whisper.
"It was the Caesar himself, O Augusta," he whispered, "who yesterday,before all the people, made an oath and declared that thy future lordand master should succeed to the imperium, so that the descendants ofimmortal Augustus should in time become the rulers of Rome."
"But the Caesar is not dead," she said simply.
"He is dead to the people, dead to his guard, dead to Rome!" assertedthe praefect solemnly. "Yesterday the dagger of Escanes was ready to dothe supreme act of retributory justice, and to rid the world of amaniacal tyrant and Rome of a cruel oppressor; to-day the act wasvirtually done by the madman himself when he fled in abject terror frombefore the face of his people."
And--as if in direct confirmation of Caius Nepos' solemn words, therecame from far away, rising momentarily above the roar of the tempest,that ever-persistent monotonous cry:
"Death to the Caesar! Death!" even whilst Jove's thunder overhead gaveforth its majestic echo.
Dea Flavia no longer hid her face in her hand. She sat serene anddignified, upright and pure as a lily, allowing her thoughts to beexpressed in her blue eyes, letting these ambitious self-seekers seethat she was not deceived by their pretence at loyalty and patriotism.They gathered closer round her, and she looked now truly a queen,dignified and serene, her head crowned by the glory of her goldenhair--towering above their stooping forms.
There was a look of contempt in her eyes which they did not choose tosee. They were having their will with her; they had fired her ambitionand roused her enthusiasm, and that was all that these intriguers askedof this girl, of whom they but desired to make a tool for the carving oftheir own selfish ends.
Vaguely the older men wondered on whom the Augusta's choice had fallen,whilst my lord Hortensius Martius felt the hot blood rush to his cheeksat the hopes that had once more risen in his heart.
But now Ancyrus, the elder, began to speak and his voice was mellow andgentle.
"The people have spoken plainly, O Augusta," he said; "wilt set thywill against the might of the people of Rome? Hath not Jove spokenclearly too? Think on the events of the past two days! The Caesar'spronouncement in the Circus, the tumult amongst the people when my lordHortensius Martius courted certain death in order to win thy favours,the rage of the populace against the Caesar!... think on it all! Did notJove direct all this?"
"Aye! but meseems that he did!" she murmured, as her eyes fastenedthemselves on the heavy door that led to the inner room, "but since thenhath he not directed the people to acclaim the Caesar of their choice?"
Caius Nepos shrugged his shoulders and Hortensius Martius broke inhotly.
"The rabble clamours for the praefect of Rome! but the praefect isdead...."
"Aye! I remember, my lord," she said quietly, "there is a rumour that hedied soon after he had saved thy life."
Then as Hortensius Martius, feeling the sting of the rebuke, bit hisunder lip to check an angry retort, Ancyrus, the elder, rejoinedsuavely, trying to pour the oil of his honeyed words on the troubledwater of the younger man's wrath.
"The praefect is dead, O Augusta, and the people will soon forget him.Rome deifies thee because of thy great kinsman. Having forgotten thehero of their choice they will readily turn to thee whom they love. Theywill accept from thy hands the Caesar whom thou wilt choose."
My lord Hortensius after that first feeling of anger had soon recoveredhis serenity. He tried to put an expression of sad reproach into theglance which he fixed on the Augusta. Perhaps she had not meant torebuke him and was already sorry that she had wounded him. He would haveliked to put into his glance all that he felt in his heart for her; deepdown within him, below the overlaying crust of his ambition, there wasreal love for the beautiful girl who had it in her power to bestow onhim all the gifts for which he craved.
He firmly believed that the Augusta reciprocated his love. She hadalways received his admiration more patiently than that of others, shehad more than once listened quietly to the protestations of his love.Yesterday he had risked his life to win her hand: she, a proud Romanlady, was not like to forget his valour. When from the arena he hadcaught sight of her face, it was terror-stricken and deathly pale; shehad feared for him then, of that he was quite sure.
The horrible death which he had faced had given him the first claim toher favours in the sight of his friends. They had rallied willinglyround him and had tacitly recognised him as their leader. Now it seemedas if Jove himself, with the help of his thunders, had ranged himself onhis side.
He saw the glow of enthusiasm rise to Dea Flavia's face, suffusing hereyes, her lips, her throat. He believed that that glow had been partlykindled by his glance, and was too much blinded by his own ambition andhis own desires to note that the young girl's averted gaze waspersistently fixed upon the door of the inner room.
Dea Flavia, of a truth, had little thought of my lord HortensiusMartius, of his ambition or of his love; she could not tear her eyesaway from the spot beyond the stuccoed walls where lay a man--helplessnow--but a man whose every deed proclaimed him the born ruler of men.
Then, as those around her were silent, hanging expectant upon her lips,she forced her thoughts back to them and to all that they had said.
"What would ye have me do, my lords?" she murmured.
"Make thy choice, O Augusta!" urged Caius Nepos ea
gerly. "Choose thylord and master from among those who are ready to acclaim thy choice asfinal. The praetorian guard is prepared I tell thee. The mad Caesaryesterday paved the way for our success. Choose thy husband, Augusta,and the praetorian guard will forthwith proclaim him as the greatest andbest of Caesars, princeps, imperator, the father of his armies. Thepeople will go wild with joy and will deify thee and thy lord."
"But the Caesar ... my kinsman...?"
"He will end his days in contentment and in peace," said Ancyrus, theelder, dryly, "in a villa on the island of Capraea. No harm shall come tohim. We here present do pledge thee our oath."
"But I must have time to think," she said earnestly; "'tis no smallmatter ye ask of me, my lords. I am but a woman and still young inyears, and ye ask me to weigh the destinies of this mighty Empire in thebalance of mine own desires."
"We would not ask it of thee, O Augusta! were thou an ordinary mortal,"said Hortensius Martius, speaking with passionate warmth, "but thou arta goddess; the blood of great Augustus doth deify thee."
"A goddess? I?" she retorted coldly; "nay! I am but a lonely woman whohath need of counsel to guide her in this supreme moment of her life."
"Are we not here to guide thee?" came in dulcet tones from Ancyrus, theelder; "we, thy faithful servants, thy obedient slaves? Have we notspoken and counselled thee?"
"Aye! you have spoken, my lords, and I have read the thoughts that liebehind your words. 'Tis not loyalty to dead Augustus that alone led yourfootsteps to my door."
"Our love for thee," interposed Hortensius Martius softly.
"And your own aims that you would follow, your own ambitions that youwould feed."
Then as hot words of protest rose to the lips of most, she put up herhand and added with quiet dignity:
"Nay, my lords, 'tis but human to be ambitious, and Rome herself isgreat because she is ambitious. But I, for myself alone, have noambition. The proud title which ye would offer me holds no allurement tomy tastes. But if the gods will so guide my choice that a just and braveman shall bear the sceptre of imperial Augustus, then will I thank themon my knees that I was made a medium for their will."
Hortensius Martius, convinced that her eyes had rested on him while shespoke, made an effort to disguise the look of triumph that shone fromout his glance. But young Escanes, in whom all hope had not yet died,was under the same impression, as also was my lord Philippus Decius;for, in truth, Dea Flavia had looked round on them all marvelling howany of them could compare with the man who already, in her heart, wasthe chosen lord of Rome.
"And now, my lords," she said, paying no further heed to the sighs ofrestless desires that rose up round her as she spoke, "I pray you ask nomore of me. I must think and I must pray. I entreat you not to urge adecision on me until I have thought and prayed."
"Time is precious, Augusta," urged Caius Nepos feebly, "and the peoplewill not wait."
"The people have fled from before the storm," she rejoined, "and theirwill, remember, my lords, may not be in accordance with yours."
"They call for the praefect of Rome and the praefect is dead. We mustbe ready to acclaim a Caesar who will be equally to their choice."
"Then," she said, "when to-morrow the third hour of the day is called, Ipray you, my lords, come back to me for mine answer. But I must haveuntil to-morrow to ponder and to pray. An you must press me now," sheadded decisively, seeing that protestations were again hanging on theirlips, "then must my answer be 'No!' to all your demands."
Though in her heart she had already weighed all that she meant to do,yet she would not give her decision without speaking first to the manwho already was the elect of her choice. He was sick now, lying in thearms of sleep. In a few hours probably he would be refreshed, and itwould indeed be a mighty Caesar whom she would proclaim on the morrowbefore the people of Rome.
"The people will not wait till to-morrow, Augusta," urged Ancyrus, theelder, "canst tell a raging tempest to pause or a thunderstorm to bidethy time? They are quiet for the nonce but in an hour they will againinvade the imperial hill. Thy house will not be safe."
"Then must ye put a check upon the people as best ye can, my lords; Icannot make my choice at this hour," she said determinedly, "if yecannot wait and if ye fear the people, then must you make your planswithout my help."
They consulted with one another in whispers. The Augusta was obdurateand without her they did not care to act. Her personality was alonepowerful enough at this crisis to satisfy the people, and she alonecould stand for the success of their intrigues against the people's louddemands for the praefect of Rome.
Betwixt two dangers the plotters chose the lesser one. If the populacegot once more out of hand they would, whilst invading the palaces, findthe Caesar and no doubt murder him. That act of vengeance onceaccomplished they would probably calm down for a while. They wouldexpend their strength in clamouring for the praefect of Rome, but thepraefect of Rome was certainly dead, else he would have appeared erethis. The darkness of the night would perforce put a stop to allstreet-rioting; under its cover the praetorian praefect could easilyrejoin the guard, and by the third hour of to-morrow, everything wouldbe prepared for the proclamation of the newly chosen Caesar.
Not one of these conspirators had any doubt as to who that Caesar wouldbe. Chosen from among their ranks, he would be compelled to rewardrichly those who had placed him on the throne.
Dea Flavia waited quietly while these hurried consultations were goingon. Now that she saw that her wishes had prevailed, she once more becamegracious and kind.
With a sign of the head and a smile that contained a promise sheintimated to them that they were dismissed.
"I beg of you, my lords," she said, "to look upon my house as your ownuntil the morrow. My slaves will offer you food and drink, and prepareyou baths to refresh you, and sleeping-chambers for the night. To-morrowyou will have mine answer. May the gods protect ye until then, mylords."
She touched a small gong summoning Dion and Nolus back into herpresence. To them she entrusted the task of seeing to the needs of thesegreat lords and of watching over their comforts.
It would have been churlish and inexpedient after this to insist onfurther conversation. Moreover the presence of the slaves put a check onprivacy. It was better on the whole to obey. These sybarites too werenot averse to the thought of a rich table and of merry-making in theAugusta's house until the morrow. Her cooks were noted for their skilland hers were the richest cellars in Rome.
Caius Nepos, Ancyrus, the elder, and the others all walked out of DeaFlavia's presence backwards and with spine bent at an obsequious angle.
Hortensius Martius was the last to leave. He knelt on the floor, andtaking the edge of her tunic between his fingers he touched itreverently with his lips. She looked down on him, not unkindly. Had hebut known that his greatest claim on her graciousness was that his lifehad been saved by another, he would not have worn that look of triumphas he finally followed the others out of the room.
"She hath made her choice, my lord," said Caius Nepos amiably, takingthe younger man by the arm, "a woman was not like to reject suchbrilliant proposals."
"I will ask for the praefecture of Rome," murmured Ancyrus, the elder,complacently.
My lord Hortensius Martius said nothing, but he disengaged his arm fromhis too familiar friend and walked ahead of all the others, squaring hisshoulders and holding his head erect, as one already marked out to ruleover the rest of mankind.
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