Quintus Claudius: A Romance of Imperial Rome. Volume 1

by Ernst Eckstein

  CHAPTER XV.

  Before Stephanus went through to the anteroom, where Polycharma waswaiting with the other slaves, he paused a moment to recover hisbreath. He drew himself up, and his face resumed its usual expressionof supercilious indifference. He now could measure with calmer bloodthe extent of his success; that which, a few minutes since, haddeprived him of his senses, now filled his spirit with elasticity,and he told himself that he had selected, with infinite psychologicalinsight, the moment for realizing his long-cherished purpose--themoment in fact, when her first meeting with her husband had shaken theproud woman's nature to the foundations. He believed, that the happyresult was obviously to be ascribed to this fortunate coincidence, andthis doubled his good opinion of his own judgment. His glance lingeredwith supreme satisfaction on the magnificent room, the statue of Venus,the little Eros and the purple pillows on the divans. The inarticulatelanguage of the smile, that played upon his thin lips, was easy tointerpret--it told of his hope ere long to rule as master in thisapartment, as the declared favorite of its lovely mistress--lovelierand grander than the marble goddess there, and oh! a thousand timeswarmer and more gracious.

  He dropped his right arm, letting his white robe sweep the groundlike the mantle of an eastern prince, and went on to the anteroom. Hefavored the wily Polycharma with a gracious nod, marching past theother girls with the strut of a promoted peacock. The Sicambrian staredat him open-mouthed.

  The steward's apartments were on the farther side of the peristyle, onthe side towards the Circus Maximus. His offices were lower down still,on the Quirinal, where the Empress had been living since her separationfrom her husband, excepting when she went every summer to her villa atBaiae. The elaborate paraphernalia of official papers made a promptremoval impossible, and only certain small branches of the steward'sbusiness had as yet been reinstated in the palace.

  Stephanus went into his private room, laid aside his toga, andstretched himself at full-length on a comfortable couch. His restlessbrain was already seething with a thousand plans, which chased eachother like a flight of crows. Numbers of impressions and motives, whichhitherto had lurked unheeded, started up in his memory as possiblestarting points for future operations; but foremost of all the figureof Eurymachus, as yet irretrievably lost, occupied his thoughts. Tojudge from the reports of the slaves, who had followed the fugitive,the behavior of Quintus Claudius had been strange enough to suggestits connection with the slave's successful escape, even if no directconnection existed. Stephanus dimly felt, that here lay the fulcrumfor his lever--but how could he use it? Well, he had solved harderproblems than this in his time. The son of so influential a man as theFlamen was, no doubt, a more difficult subject to deal with than ThraxBarbatus, whose cries had easily been drowned; still--the higher theobstacle, the greater the triumph.

  He lay gazing thoughtfully at the tips of his fingers. Wholly possessedby the idea of avenging Domitia, he had forgotten for the moment,that the escape of Eurymachus was of importance to him on far gravergrounds, than the use he could make of it to injure Quintus; now, thisconsciousness pressed with double weight on his soul. He would havegiven half his fortune, to learn that Eurymachus was silent forever.By some accident, which to Stephanus remained an unsolved mystery,Eurymachus had learned a momentous secret.--Supposing that now, whenhe was no longer gagged, he should make himself heard--supposing heshould shout it out in the ears of the world. A hundred times did thesteward curse the fatal idea, of making the execution of his slave anentertainment for Lycoris' guests. Quietly strangled, or thrown intoa tank to feed the lampreys--that would have been the rational thing,and more like his usual good sense. To be sure, hatred and rage hadspoken loudly, and Lycoris had entreated him so earnestly.--Still itwas folly, madness. Who could tell what Fate might bring out of it, ifsuch precious material should happen to fall into the hands of CneiusAfranius--that cruel vampire who, for more than six months, had hadhis clutches on the steward's neck. His eyes were fixed vacantly onthe ceiling, as the long train of his crimes passed before him. Eachseparate deed appeared clothed in flesh and blood, incarnate in theform of Cneius Afranius, who seized him by the hair and dragged himbefore the Senate; till, at last, the direst deed of all came forthand cried to Heaven, till the great city shook to its foundations, andDomitian himself, the blood-stained tyrant, hid his face in horror.

  Stephanus started up.

  "Be still, mad brain!" he exclaimed, striking his forehead with hisfist. "I have been too easy; a prudent man should strike and hold;till now I only kept out of the way of the arrows of Afranius, now--lethim see to it, that he hides himself from mine. Quintus and he! Thesame stroke may by good hap fall on both at once."

  He paced his room uneasily; suddenly he stood still--before him stood alad with soft and girlish features.

  "Antinous!" cried the freedman. "You glide about like a weasel."

  "Forgive me, my lord, but I had asked three times to be admitted. Iheard you speaking to yourself...."

  "You heard?"

  "Not a word, my lord. You muttered through your teeth--onlydisconnected words--I thought you were vexed and angry with theslaves...."

  "And you came to comfort me?" asked Stephanus smiling. "It is well thatI have you; for the next few weeks you will have heavy work on hand.Shut the door and sit down on the couch there."

  "Heavy work?" asked the boy disconsolately. "What, am I to carry water;or till the fields? Am I to be as miserable as the others are?"

  Stephanus laughed, and patted the lad's beardless cheek.

  "Not yet, my boy. I have chosen you for something better than that.What I have for you to do is serious and very difficult, but amusingand interesting; and if you accomplish the task, you shall be--well,you shall be free. Do you hear, Antinous, free? And rich besides, for Iwill give you an estate...."

  "My lord, you know that my devotion is boundless. Only a few hourssince I risked my life for two thousand miserable sesterces...."

  "Not too rashly, I imagine. You thought that discretion was the betterpart of valor!"

  "Pardon me, but you are mistaken. I rushed down upon him, when he wassurrounded by his clients and slaves; and if I had not slipped away atthe very instant...."

  The boy shuddered.

  "What is the matter?" asked Stephanus.

  "I do not know, but I shiver whenever I think of it. As I struck him, Imet his eye--so cool and contemptuous.--If at that moment he had seizedme, I should have been lost...."

  "You are childish, Antinous. I am afraid, that if you are so excitableyou will not earn your freedom in a hurry."

  "What, again must I...?"

  "No, his life is spared. You must do more than that."

  "More?" said the lad in astonishment.

  "Aye, more, boy. Why any bandit from the Appian Way could stab him;what I want you to do requires not only zeal, skill and courage, butintelligence, readiness, and the craftiness of Ulysses[286]. Greekblood flows in your veins[287]--you are at once panther and fox. Youshall hear the details in the course of the day; I shall expect you todinner with me here in the study. Enough for the present. Now tellme where you have been so long? You had no sooner told me that yourblow had missed, than, you rushed away again. I waited in vain ... youreally abuse my kindness...."

  "Oh! my lord, are you angry?" said the boy coaxingly. "Indeed, if Isinned, it was not from insolence, but from fear. I felt irresistiblydriven to his house; I mixed with the people, that I might learnwhether information had reached the prefects of the attack upon him...."

  "Well?"

  "Up to the present hour no one knows of it. Quintus Claudius seemsinclined to keep it a secret. Even the gate-keeper, whom I began totalk to...."

  "Are you mad?" interrupted Stephanus. "Do you want to find yourselfimprisoned and crucified?"

  "Nay, my lord. Antinous does not go to work so clumsily. When I stoppedto talk to the gate-keeper, I was in girl's clothes."

  "It is all the same; the whole thing was aimless."<
br />
  "Not altogether, an accident rewarded my daring. Only think, as I wasstanding there talking over the weather--he took me, as sure as I amalive, for some street hussy--a woman came towards us through theostium, with an old man with a snow-white beard. As soon as I saw her,I knew her to be that saucy Euterpe, who so often played the flutefor us at Baiae; do you not remember? The pretty girl from Cumae, whoalways looked so shy and stupid, when you praised her shape...."

  "Well, and what does she matter to me?"

  "Euterpe? nothing whatever; but the old man.--As they came past us, avague remembrance crossed my mind. I said to myself: I must surelyknow that man. Then he used some little gesture, and at once I hadfound the trace. It was none other than Thrax Barbatus, that obstinatefool who wanted, a little while since, to force his way in to seeyou...."

  "Thrax! with Quintus Claudius?" cried the steward horrified. "Ah! Iunderstand now! Claudius and Afranius are plotting together, to restorethe old idiot to his rights. The Flamen's son has long honored me withhis hatred. A reason the more, for disarming and disabling him...."Then he suddenly checked himself, pushed his fingers through his hair,and scowled.

  "Listen," he began eagerly. "I have an idea. Was it not Euterpe, whotroubled herself so much about Eurymachus, when I had him flogged?"

  "To be sure, Euterpe, the pretty Cumaean! He was supposed to be herlover, and while he was laid up she brought him herbs and salves; andshe cried...."

  Stephanus drew a deep breath.

  "What more do you know of all this?"

  "Very little," said Antinous. "In Baiae I had something better todo, than to trouble myself about anything so commonplace as the loveaffairs of a flute-playing hussy. At any rate, the noble Eurymachusdoes not seem to have been very eager. Astraeus heard him once scoldingher soundly."

  "Why?"

  "It had something to do with her salves and ointments. She had boughtthe stuff of some Egyptian magician, and that vexed her lover...."

  Stephanus nodded, and a gleam of malicious satisfaction lighted up hisvulture face.

  "Ah! I was not mistaken," he muttered between his teeth; then, turningto the slave, he added: "And is that all you learnt from Astraeus?"

  "All."

  "Very good, then I will question him myself; I foresee great results.Go now, Antinous; my head whirls with a multiplicity of wonderfulpossibilities. Claudius, Afranius, Thrax, Euterpe--you must watch themall with the eye of an Argus."

  "My lord, your confidence in me makes me vain. You have only tocommand, and I will obey. I will climb the Capitol like the invadingGauls[288]; I will dive to the depths of the sea and bring you amessage from Thetis.[289] But then, do not forget your promise."

  "I will keep it," replied Stephanus, stroking the lad's cheek. "Freedomand gold are the charms, that give wings to your services."

  "You are the kindest master[290] in the whole Roman Empire! Farewell."

  He nodded to Stephanus with saucy familiarity, danced across the roomwith a graceful step, leaped lightly over one of the broad couches, andslipped out of the door like an eel.

  "Hail, all hail to thee, Quintus!" Stephanus muttered mockingly. "Thisis a better beginning, than I dared to hope for. And if Fortunecontinues to favor me, I will raise on this foundation such a structureas you need not disdain to take your pleasure in."

  FOOTNOTES:

  [286] THE CRAFTINESS OF ULYSSES. Ulysses, Ulixes, (Odysseus,) the hero of the Homeric Odyssey, was considered in tradition, after Homer's day, as the type of craft and cunning, while Homer presents him in a more ideal light.

  [287] GREEK BLOOD FLOWS IN YOUR VEINS. Among the Romans, the Greeks had the reputation of resembling in character the Ulysses described after Homer's day. Next to the Orientals, they were the most hated of all the dwellers in the provinces.

  [288] I WILL CLIMB THE CAPITOL LIKE THE INVADING GAULS. The (unsuccessful) attempt to take the beleaguered Capitol by storm, made by the Gauls, as is well known, in the year 389 B.C. after they had defeated the Roman army at the little river Allia.

  [289] THETIS, daughter of Nereus, lived with her sisters, the Nereids, in the depths of the ocean. She personified the friendly character of the sea, as Poseidon did its destructive and terrible one.

  [290] YOU ARE THE KINDEST MASTER. The epithet "kind" (_dulcis_) is often used in this application to superiors and those in higher position. Thus Horace in the well-known first ode of the first book addresses Maecenas: _O et praesidium et dulce decus meum_....