Unto Caesar

by Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy

  CHAPTER XXXII

  "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every sonwhom He receiveth."--HEBREWS XII. 6.

  The gorgeous palace of Augustus appeared quite deserted when thepraefect of Rome finally made his way to the vestibule. He crossed themagnificent inner peristylium, the tall, uncut pillars of which, sharplydefined against the sky, enhanced its majestic grandeur and its air ofmysterious solemnity.

  As a rule these vast halls were peopled with scribes, and though shornof its original imperial splendours the palace of the great Emperorpresented at times a certain air of animation and of official bustle.But now these scribes, no doubt awed by the sound of terror and ofstrife which must have reached even this hallowed spot, had fled intothe more remote portions of the palace, or mayhap had even joined thethrongs in the Forum, on the principle that 'tis better to form an unitin an angry crowd, rather than to be its butt.

  The peristylium itself, despite its mute and lonely magnificence, boretraces of the turmoil that reigned throughout the city; there wereobvious signs that men had lived and worked here but a very little whileago, that they had been afraid and then had run away.

  The marble floors were stained with mud. The sedate chairs that usuallylined the walls were pushed aside and left to stand crooked and awry,the very mockery of their former dignity. Here and there a roll ofparchment, an ink-stained pen, a cast-off cloak littered the hall andlooked curiously provocative and out of place--an insult to the majestyof the dead and mighty Caesar, who had caused the stately columns to bereared, and the massive walls to raise their pure lines upwards to thesky.

  But on all this Taurus Antinor did not pause to think. On his right heheard sounds which proclaimed the presence of men, and thither did heimmediately turn his footsteps.

  Peering through the long vista of numberless columns, the further onesof which were merged together in the dim light, he saw that the score orso of the praetorian guard who had escorted the Caesar in his flight wereassembled at the end of the gigantic hall, some lolling against themarble pillars, others lying or squatting on the hard floor, as much attheir ease as circumstances would allow.

  They had not discarded their accoutrements and each man had his sword byhis side. Not realising that the fury of the mob had been momentarilydamped by the storm, they remained prepared to defend the Caesar's lifeat any moment with their own.

  More than one of them had apparently been wounded in one or other of thehand-to-hand combats which they had sustained against the mob earlier inthe day, for more than one head was wrapped in a rough piece of bandageand more than one tunic was stained with blood. All the men lookedfagged and dirty and for the most part worn out with sleeplessness andwant of food.

  As the praefect's firm tread resounded from end to end of the colonnadedhall and woke the slumbering echoes of the deserted palace, weary,lack-lustre eyes were turned in his direction, and now when his tallfigure appeared between two pillars the men recognised him, for hishead was uncovered.

  One or two of them gave a cry of terror since all of them had thoughtthat the praefect was dead, and this tall, dark presence, wrapped in along cloak and with tawny hair still dripping from the rain, looked verylike an apparition from another world.

  "The Caesar?" queried the praefect curtly.

  Some of the men struggled to their feet. The voice they knew well; itwas as of old, loud and peremptory and not like to be coming from agrave. All did their best to assume a respectful bearing, and one whowas in command made ready to show the praefect into the Caesar'spresence.

  "I want no escort," said Taurus Antinor in that same commanding voicewhich no one in Rome had ever tried to resist. "Tell me only where I canfind the Caesar."

  "In the lararium, O praefect," replied the soldier without hesitation."He ordered us to remain here."

  Without looking to right or left Taurus Antinor walked past the soldiersinto the gorgeous tablinium beyond, where great Augustus had been wontto administer justice. This vast hall was deserted, but from an innerroom on the left there came to the praefect's ear a curious sound likethe snarl of an angry feline creature, a sound which he knew could onlycome from one human throat. Without hesitation he turned to whence thatsound had come. On the right of the huge semi-circular apse, whichcontained the now vacant throne of Augustus, a narrow door led to thesmall temple-like room which had once contained the great Emperor'shousehold gods.

  A heavy curtain of embroidered silk masked this entrance. Taurus Antinorpushed it back and walked in.

  The temple derived its light solely from a small opening in the vaultedceiling; that light which came down in a narrow shaft was grey and dulland failed to penetrate the dark and mysterious corners of the room.

  Taurus Antinor's eyes were narrowed beneath his frowning brows as hetried to pierce the gloom that lay beyond that shaft of light. He couldhear heavy breathing proceeding from there and the muttering of curses,and anon he was able to spy a bundle of stained silken clothes that layin a heap and which seemed to shrink and to shrivel, to tremble and tocower on the altar steps: a bundle of rags and a gleam of flaccid fleshwhich stood for the majesty of Caesar.

  All at once there was a raucous cry and a growl as of an animal enraged,and the next second something hot and heavy threw itself with violentforce against the praefect, even whilst the sharp blade of a daggercaught a gleam of reflected light.

  But Taurus Antinor--well knowing the man whom he had come to help--wasfully prepared for the treacherous attack. With a rapid movement he hadmade a shield of his mantle by winding it closely round his arm, andholding it before his face. The dagger glanced against the woollenmaterial, rendered heavy and sodden with the rain, and Caligula,unnerved by the futile effort, staggered back against the altar stepswhile the dagger fell with a sharp sound upon the marble floor.

  "Traitor!" came in hoarse gasps from the Caesar's throat. "Hast come tomurder me!"

  "Ho! there! My guard! My guard!"

  He was trying to shout, but terror was evidently choking him. Hestruggled to his feet, and still trembling from head to foot, madepitiable attempts to work his way round to a place of safety behind thealtar, whilst keeping his bloodshot eyes fixed upon the praefect.

  "Hast come to murder me?" he gasped.

  "I came to place my body at thy service, O Caesar," replied TaurusAntinor quietly. "I have been sick for nigh on twenty-four hours, else Ihad come to thee before. They told me that thou wast cut off from thosewhose duty it is to guard thy person. An thou wilt grant me leave I'llconduct thee to them."

  "Aye! thou'rt ready enough to conduct me to my death, thou treacherousson of slaves," snarled the Caesar from behind the safe bastion of thestone altar. "I have learnt thy treachery, I, even I, who trusted thee.Thou didst lie to me and plan my death even whilst I heaped uncountedfavours upon thee."

  "On my soul, O Caesar, thou dost me infinite wrong," rejoined thepraefect calmly. "But, an it please thee, I am not here to justifymyself before thee, though God knows I would wish thee to believe metrue; rather am I here to serve thee, an thou wilt deign to accept myhelp in thy need."

  "To accept thy help. Nay! By Jupiter, I would as soon trust myself tothe snakes that creep under the grasses of the Campania, as I wouldplace my life in the keeping of a traitor."

  "Had I thought to betray thee, O Caesar," said Taurus Antinor simply, "Ihad not come unarmed and alone. Even the dagger wherewith thou didstthreaten my life lies at my foot now, ready to my hand for the merepicking up of it."

  As he spoke he gave the dagger a slight kick with his foot, so that itslid clinking and rattling along the smooth floor, until its progresswas stopped by the corner of the altar steps against which the Caesarcowered in abject fear. "My guard is in the next room," said Caligulawith an evil sneer, "an I call but once and they will kill thee at myword."

  "That is as thou commandest and as God wills," said Taurus Antinor, "butremember ere thou strikest, O Caesar, that with my death thou wilt losethe one man who can save thee now." />
  He spoke quite calmly nor did the tone of deference ever depart from hisspeech. He stood in the dim light which came in a straight shaft downthrough the opening above, his splendid person in full view of the Caesarwho still crouched in the shadow. The power of his individuality imposeditself upon the miserable coward who threatened him. Caligula--tyrantand half crazy though he was--had sufficient shrewdness in his tortuousbrain to recognise the truth of what the praefect had told him. Had thisman come with evil intent he would not have come alone and unarmed: hadhe wished to gain his own ends, he would have had but to say a word andthe mob had been ready to wreak its desired vengeance upon the Caesar.

  "The people of Rome," resumed Taurus Antinor after a while, seeing thatCaligula was silent and more inclined to listen to him, "are angeredagainst thee. Thou knowest, O Caesar! what the anger of the peopleportends. For the moment a violent storm has driven the malcontents awayfrom the vicinity of thy palace. They are congregated under the arcadesof the Forum and nurse there their thoughts of rancour and of revenge."

  "Until such time as my wrath overtakes them," broke in Caligula with oneof his most evil oaths. "I am not dead yet, and whilst I live I'll notforget. Rome shall rue this day in blood and in tears. Vengeance andrancour, sayest thou?" and he drew in his breath with a moist, hissingsound like the snakes of the Campania of which he spoke just now."Vengeance and rancour will overtake the rebels! _My_ vengeance and _my_rancour, beside which all others shall pale! Rome can wait, I say: theCaesar is not yet dead."

  The words fell choked and thick from his quivering lips, nor did TaurusAntinor attempt to interrupt him; but as the Caesar finished speaking,exhausted and breathing heavily, there was a moment's silence in theroom, and through that silence could be heard quite distinctly the callof the people from the distance below.

  "Death to the Caesar! Death!"

  Caligula uttered a loud cry of rage and of fear and struggled to hisfeet. He staggered forward out of the darkness and into the light, histrembling arms outstretched, his sparse hair plastered against his moistforehead, his eyes, protruding and bloodshot, fixed upon the praefect.

  "They'll murder me," he cried, as he almost fell on his knees and onlysaved himself by clinging desperately with both hands to TaurusAntinor's outstretched arm. "They'll murder me! Save me, O praefect;save me! and I'll heap wealth upon thee--money, honours, power, all thatthou dost desire! Save me! Do not let them murder me! I will not die....I will not! I will not!... Cowards! cowards! I am a defenceless man!...I will not die ... I cannot die.... Cowards!"

  Taurus Antinor had to brace himself up against the sickening sense ofalmost physical nausea that came over him at sight of this pitifulcreature, more abject than any cur.

  Among the many moments of terrible doubt and still more terribletemptation through which he had fought to-day, this was perhaps the mostintolerable because the worldly man in him cried out against thefutility of his own sacrifice.

  To give up every hope of happiness, every aspiration for the welfare ofan entire nation for the sake of this miserable coward, whose thoughtsof self-preservation only alternated with those of maniacal tyranny,seemed indeed insensate mockery. Duty could not possibly lie in this.This base creature's worthless life surely could not be weighed in thebalance against the countless others which--despite any promises thatmight be wrung from him now--he would inevitably sacrifice to his ownlust for blood and for revenge.

  The worldly man, the thinking philosopher, the pagan in fact, facedthese propositions and placed them before the Christian. But the timehad gone by for mental conflict. The Christian had fought until hisnumbed soul had almost lost the power of suffering; all he knew now wasthat he must not reason, he must neither think nor philosophise. TheMaster whom he had seen with limbs stretched upon a Cross in unspeakableagony and humiliation, might also have overturned a Caesar and ruled theworld from the heights of a throne. He chose to rule it from a place ofinfamy, and when His dying lips proclaimed to that same world thesupreme finality of its salvation: "It is accomplished!" it was not tothe sound of triumphal music, with banners flying and the spoils ofconquest around, it was to the accompaniment of taunts and of derisionand with body stripped naked before a jeering world.

  "I have offered thee my service, O Caesar," said Taurus Antinor with amighty effort at deference and calm. "An thou wilt follow mine advice Ican shield thee from the wrath of the people until such time as thatwhich has occurred to-day, lies buried in the bosom of the past."

  "What must I do?... What must I do?" muttered Caligula between hischattering teeth. He was clinging to the praefect with both hands, forhis knees were shaking under him and he would have fallen had heattempted to stand up alone. "Save me, praefect.... Save me.... Do notlet them kill me.... I cannot die.... I will not ... and those cowardswould murder me...."

  "Wilt trust thyself to me, O Caesar?"

  "Yes, yes, what must I do?"

  "Come forth with me into the streets. Wrapped in dark cloaks the peoplewill not recognise us. They would never expect the Caesar to leave hispalace while his life is in danger, and well disguised thou couldst comewith me through devious ways to a house I know of on the Aventine wherethou wouldst be safe."

  But at this suggestion that he should leave the security of this lonelypalace for the open dangers of the streets, Caligula's terrors increasedtenfold. His teeth chattered more loudly in his head, and his hands onthe praefect's arm became convulsive in their grasp.

  "I dare not go, praefect," he stammered, and it had been pitiable wereit not abject to see the look of insane terror which he cast around him."I dare not go.... They would kill me if they saw me ... and I don'twant to die...."

  "No one would recognise thee," said Taurus Antinor with ill-restrainedpatience, "dressed as scribes we can mingle with the fringe of thecrowd. The shades of evening will be on us in an hour and our darkmantles will excite no attention. Have no fear, Caesar! no one wouldsuspect thee of running in the teeth of danger."

  The tone of bitter irony was lost on the dulled perceptions of thismiserable coward.

  "I would not dare," he murmured intermittently, "I would not dare."

  "Then do I take my leave of thee, O Caesar," retorted Taurus Antinorcoldly. "For here alone, with but twenty men to guard thee, I can donaught to save thy person from outrage."

  "If I were quite sure that I could trust thee...."

  "That is for thee to decide. I have offered thee my services ... anthou'lt not accept them I crave thy leave to go."

  "No, no, do not leave me, praefect," cried Caligula with despair,clinging now with all his might to this arm, which every instinct in himtold him was staunch in his defence. "Do not leave me ... I'll do asthou dost advise.... I'll don a slave's garb ... and slip out into thestreet in thy wake ... and ... after that...?"

  "Thou'lt find temporary shelter in an humble house on the Aventine.There thou canst rest for a few days even while thy legions, distantfrom here but three days' march, I believe, do approach the city."

  "Yes, yes! my legions," cried the Caesar in a hoarse whisper. "I hadnigh forgotten them. They are not far ... if I could but reachthem...."

  A sudden fire of malicious hatred once more lit up the dull misery ofhis face.

  "At the head of my legions I can soon show this miserable rabble who isthe master of Rome."

  "At the head of thy legions, O Caesar," retorted Taurus Antinor firmly,"and preceded by a proclamation of universal pardon for all the eventsof the past few days, thou wilt make thine entry into Rome amidst therejoicings of thy people."

  "Pardon!" hissed Caligula through set teeth. "Never!"

  "Yet is a proclamation of universal pardon necessary for thy safety,"said Taurus Antinor with solemn earnestness. "As soon as I have placedthee under the protection of that sheltering roof on the Aventine, Iwould return to Rome with thy proclamation, and with the news that inthree days' time thou wouldst enter the city at the head of thy people.The people, frightened at first, would imagine that divine interf
erencehad led thee triumphantly out of danger, thy clemency would allay theirfears and fire their enthusiasm; they would soon make ready to welcomethee with rejoicings. But without thy promise of pardon fear would gainthe mastery over those who led this rebellion, and fear quickly wouldbeget despair. In their terror of thy coming vengeance they might opposethy coming, and such is the temper of the people just now that all thestrength of thy legions--half-spent in this last expedition--might bepowerless against it; thy chosen soldiers even might turn against thee."

  The Caesar was silent, and even in this dim light it was easy to read onhis ghastly face the inner workings of his tortuous mind--rage, malice,a raging thirst for revenge fought against his own cowardice and thesteady influence which the praefect's calm and firm attitude wasexercising over him, much against his will.

  "Time is precious, O Caesar," continued Taurus Antinor earnestly; "thepeople will not wait. The shadows of evening will soon be drawing in andthe storm has not yet wholly passed away. The hour is propitious now, anthou wilt accept my service, we can slip away and mingle with the fewstraggling groups of malcontents before the crowd has again rushed thehill. An thou wilt not tarry and canst brace thyself up to indifferentdemeanour in the streets, I swear to thee that thou wilt be under safeshelter in an hour."

  "If I but dared to trust myself so entirely in thy keeping...."

  Taurus Antinor shrugged his broad shoulders with marked contempt for hisforbearance was threatening to give way.

  "Is there anyone else," he asked, "whom thou wouldst rather trust? Namehim then, O Caesar, and, alive or dead, I'll bring him to thy presencewithin the hour."

  But to this the Caesar made no reply. He knew better than anyone couldtell him that the man whom he had called a traitor, whom he had twicetried basely to kill, was the one man in the entire patriciate of Romewho would be true to him. Even madmen have such instincts at times.Caligula knew that he was doomed, the cries from below could leave nodoubt in his mind that, isolated as he was, cut off not only from hislegions but even from his guard, nothing could save him from the fury ofvengeance which threatened him from his entire people.

  A wave of fatality swept over his maniacal sense of terror. He knew andfelt that if this man was a traitor then indeed could nothing save him;and he knew and felt at the same time that while he was under this man'sprotection no great harm could come to him.

  Gradually this sense of fatality got the mastery over his cowardice, andas Taurus Antinor watched the twitchings of that distorted face, hecould note that insensibly a resolution to follow his advice had foundits way in this madman's brain.

  "I'll come with thee," said Caligula at last, and now his voice soundedmore firm, even whilst his hands released their grip on the praefect'sarm and his short body straightened itself out upon his trembling limbs."I'll come with thee, but may thy flesh wither on thy bones, thy handsbe palsied and thine eyes become sightless if thou hast a thought ofbetraying thy Caesar."

  To this senseless speech Taurus Antinor vouchsafed no reply.

  "Then I pray thee," he said quietly, "wait here a while till I find thenecessary garments for thy disguise and mine, and also pen, ink andparchment."

  "Pen and ink? For what?"

  "Thy proclamation of pardon, Caesar, signed by thy hand...."

  "When I am in safety I will see to it," said Caligula with suddenblandness, "thou saidst it thyself there is no time to lose."

  "There is time to fulfil a promise and time to take what is the mostimportant measure for thy safety," rejoined Taurus Antinor.

  "Thou dost not trust thy Caesar," said Caligula with a vicious snarl.

  "No," was the praefect's curt reply.

  It was characteristic of this tyrannical despot that at the praefect'srough answer he laughed with obvious satisfaction. At the back of hisshrewd sense of self-preservation there had come the thought that theman who had spoken that unequivocal "No!" had learnt to its fullest thelesson of truth. He said nothing for a while, and when his laughter diedaway in a kind of hysterical gasp, he made a gesture expressive ofindifference and also of submission to the other's wish.

  Taurus Antinor turned away from the loathsome presence without anotherword and with a firm step. And Caligula, standing motionless in themiddle of the room waited quietly for his return.