The Roman Traitor, Vol. 2

by Henry William Herbert

  CHAPTER XVII.

  TIDINGS FROM ROME.

  Time and the tide wear through the longest day. SHAKSPEARE.

  "At last, I have thee, Julia!"

  Mighty indeed was the effort of the mind, which enabled that fair slightgirl to bear up with an undaunted lip and serene eye against the presenceof that atrocious villain; and hope, never-dying hope, was the spiritwhich nerved her to that effort.

  It was strange, knowing as she did the character of that atrocious andbloodthirsty tyrant, that she should not have given way entirely tofeminine despair and terror, or sought by tears and prayers to disarm hispurpose.

  But her high blood cried out from every vein and artery of her body; andshe stood calm and sustained by conscious virtue, even in that extremityof peril; neither tempting assault by any display of coward weakness, norprovoking it by any show of defiance.

  There is nothing, perhaps, so difficult to any one who is not a butcher oran executioner by trade, with sensibilities blunted by the force of habit,as to attack or injure any thing, which neither flies, nor resists,neither braves, nor trembles.

  And Catiline himself, savage and brutal as he was, full of ungovernedimpulse and unbridled passion, felt, though he knew not wherefore, thisdifficulty at this moment.

  Had she fallen at his feet, trembling, and tearful, and implored hismercy, he would have gloated on her terrors, laughed tears and prayers toscorn, yea! torn her from an altar’s foot, to pour out upon her the vialsof agony and foul pollution.

  Had she defied, or braved his violence, his fury would have trampled herto the earth in an instant, and murder would have followed in thefootsteps of worse violence.

  But as she stood there, firm, cold, erect, and motionless as a statue ofrare marble, with scarcely a pulse throbbing in her veins, and her clearazure eyes fixed on him with a cold and steady gaze, as if she would havefascinated him by their serene chaste influence, he likewise stood andgazed upon her with a strange mixture of impressions, wherein somethingakin to love and admiration were blent with what, in minds of bettermould, should have been reverence and awe.

  He felt, in short, that he lacked ’a spur to prick the sides of hisintent,’ a provocation to insult and aggression yet stronger than thepassion and hot thirst of vengeance, which had been well nigh chilled byher severe and icy fortitude.

  ’Tis said that a lion will turn and flee, From a maid in the pride of her purity;

  and here a fiercer and more dangerous savage stood powerless and dauntedfor the moment, by the same holy influence of virtue, which, it is said,has potency to tame the pinched king of the desert.

  It was not, however, in the nature of that man to yield himself up long toany influence, save that of his own passions, and after standing mute forperhaps a minute, during which the flush on his sallow cheek, and theglare of his fiery eye, were blanched and dimmed somewhat, he advanced astep or two toward her, repeating the words,

  "I have thee; thou art mine, Julia."

  "Thy prisoner, Catiline," she replied quietly—"if you make womenprisoners."

  "My slave, minion."

  "I am free-born, and noble. A patrician of a house as ancient as thineown. My ancestors, I have heard say, fought side by side with SergiusSilo."

  "The more cause, that their daughter should sleep side by side withSergius Catiline!" he replied with bitter irony; but there was less ofactual passion in his tones, than of a desire to lash himself into fury.

  "The less cause that a free-born lady should be disgraced by the grandsonof his comrade in arms, who gave her father being."

  Thus far her replies had been conducted in the spirit most likely tocontrol, if any thing could control, the demon that possessed him; butseeing that her words had produced more effect on him than she had deemedpossible, she made an effort to improve her advantage, and added, lookinghim firmly in the eye,

  "I have heard tell that thou art proud, Catiline, as thou art nobly born.Let, then, thine own pride"——

  "Proud! Proud! Ha! minion! What have your _nobles_ left me that I shouldglory in—what of which I may still be proud? A name of the grandest,blasted by their base lies, and infamous! Service converted into shame!valor warped into crime! At home poverty, degradation, ruin! Abroad, debt,mockery, disgrace! Proud! proud! By Nemesis! fond girl. I am proud—to bethe thing that they have made me, a terror, and a curse to all who callthemselves patrician. For daring, remorseless! for brave, cruel! forvoluptuous, sensual! for fearless, ruthless! for enterprising, reckless!for ambitious, desperate! for a man, a monster! for a philosopher, anatheist! Ha! ha! ha! ha! I am proud, minion, proud to be that I am—thatwhich thou, Julia, shalt soon find me!"

  She perceived, when it was too late, the error which she had made, andfearful of incensing him farther, answered nothing. But he was not so tobe set at naught, for he had succeeded now in lashing himself into a fitof fury, and advancing upon her, with a face full of all hideous passions,a face that denoted his fell purpose, as plainly as any words coulddeclare them.

  "Dost hear me, girl, I say? Thou art mine, Julia."

  "Thy prisoner, Catiline," she again repeated in the same steady tone as atfirst; but the charm had now failed of its effect, and it was fortunatefor the sweet girl, that the fell wretch before whom she stooddefenceless, had so much of the cat-like, tiger-like spirit in his nature,so much that prompted him to tantalize and torment before striking, toteaze and harass and break down the mind, before doing violence to thebody of his subject enemies, or of those whom he chose to deem such.

  Had he suspected at this moment that any chance of succor was at hand,however remote, he lacked neither the will nor the occasion to destroyher. He fancied that she was completely at his mercy; and perceiving that,in despite of her assumed coolness, she writhed beneath the terrors of histongue, he revelled in the fiendish pleasure of triumphing in words overher spirit, before wreaking his vengeance on her person.

  "My slave! Julia. My slave, soul and body! my slave, here and for ever!Slave to my passions, and my pleasures! Wilt yield, or resist, fair girl?Resist, I do beseech thee! Let some fire animate those lovely eyes, evenif it be the fire of fury—some light kindle those pallid cheeks, even ifit be the light of hatred! I am aweary of tame conquests."

  "Then wherefore conquer; or conquering, wherefore not spare?"—sheanswered.

  "I conquer, to slake my thirst of vengeance. I spare not, for the wiseman’s word to the fallen, is still, VÆ VICTIS. Wilt yield, or resist,Julia? wilt be the sharer, or the victim of my pleasures? speak, I say,speak!" he shouted savagely, perceiving that she sought to evade a directanswer. "Speak and reply, directly, or I will do to thee forthwith whatmost thou dreadest! and then wipe out thy shame by agonies of death, towhich the tortures of old Regulus were luxury."

  "If I must choose, the victim!" she replied steadily. "But I believe youwill not so disgrace your manhood."

  "Ha! you believe so, you shall feel soon and know. One question more, wiltthou yield or resist?"—

  "Resist," she answered, "to the last, and when dishonored, die, and bydeath, like Lucretia, win back greater honor! Lucretia’s death hadwitnesses, and her tale found men’s ears."

  "Thy death shall be silent, thy shame loud. I will proclaim the first mydeed, the last thy voluntary——."

  "Proclaim it!"—she interrupted him, with her eyes flashing brightindignation, and her lip curling with ineffable disdain; as she forgot allprudence in the scorn called forth by his injurious words—"Proclaim it tothe world! who will believe it?"—

  "The world. Frailty’s name is woman!"—

  "And Falsehood’s—Catiline!"—

  "By Hades!"—and he sprang upon her with a bound like that of a tiger, andtwined his arms about her waist, clasping her to his breast with brutalviolence, and striving to press his foul lips on her innocent mouth; butshe, endowed with momentary strength, infinitely unwonted and unnatural,the strength of despair and frenzy, caught his bare throat with both herhands, a
nd writhing herself back to the full length of her arms, uttered avolume of shrieks, so awfully shrill and piercing, that they struck terrorinto the souls of the brutal rebels without, and harrowed up the spiritsof her friends, who lay concealed within earshot, waiting, now almost indespair, an opportunity to aid her.

  So strong was the clutch which her small hands had fixed upon his throat,that ere he could release himself, sufficiently to draw a full breath, hewas compelled to let her go; and ere he fully recovered himself, she hadmade a spring back toward the window, with the evident purpose of throwingherself out into the yawning gulf below it.

  But something caught her eye which apparently deterred her, and turningher back upon it quickly, she faced her persecutor once again.

  At this moment, there was a loud and angry bustle in the outer court,immediately followed by a violent knocking at the door; but so terriblewas the excitement of both these human beings, her’s the excitement ofinnocence in trial, his of atrocity triumphant, that neither heard it,though it was sudden and strong enough to have startled any sleepers, savethose of the grave.

  "Ha! but this charms me! I knew not that you had so much of the Tigress tofit you for the Tiger’s mate. But what a fool you are to waste your breathin yells and your strength in struggles, like to those, when there arenone to hear, or to witness them."

  "Witnesses are found to all crimes right early and avengers!" sheexclaimed with the high mien of a prophetess; and still that vehementknocking continued, unheeded as the earthquake which reeled unnoticedbeneath the feet of the combatants at Thrasymene.

  "To this at least there are no witnesses! there shall be no avengers!"

  "The Gods are my witnesses! shall be my avengers!"

  "Tush! there are no Gods, Julia!"

  And again he rushed on her and caught her in his arms. But as he spokethose impious words, sprang to do that atrocious deed, a witness wasfound, and it might be an avenger.

  Unnoticed by the traitor in the fierce whirlwind of his passion, thathunter boy stood forth on the further brink; revealed, a boy no longer;for the Phrygian bonnet had fallen off, and the redundant raven tresses ofa girl flowed back on the wind. Her attitude and air were those of Dianaas she bent her good bow against the ravisher Orion. Her right footadvanced firmly, her right hand drawn back to the ear, her fine eyeglaring upon the arrow which bore with unerring aim full on the breast ofher own corrupter, her own father, Catiline.

  Who had more wrongs to avenge than Lucia?

  Another second, and the shaft would have quivered in the heart of the archvillain, sped by the hand from which he deserved it the most dearly. Theroom within was brighter than day from the red torch light which filledit, falling full on the gaunt form and grim visage of the monster. Herhand was firm, her eye steady, her heart pitiless. But in the bettercourse of her changed life, heaven spared her the dread crime ofparricide.

  Just as the chord was at the tightest, just as the feathers quivered, andthe barb thrilled, about to leap from the terse string, the tall form ofthe soldier sprang up into the clear moonlight from the underwood, andcrying "Hold! hold!" mastered her bowhand, with the speed of light, anddragged her down into the covert.

  Well was it that he did so. For just as Catiline seized Julia the secondtime in his resistless grasp, and ere his lips had contaminated her sweetmouth, the giant Crispus, who had so long been knocking unheeded, rushedinto the room, and seized his leader by the shoulder unseen, until heliterally touched him.

  "Another time for this;" he said, "Catiline. There are tidings from Rome;which—"

  "To Tartarus with thy tidings! Let them tarry!"

  "They will not tarry, Catiline," replied the smith, who was as pale as aghost and almost trembling—"least of all for such painted woman’s flesh asthis is!"

  "Get thee away! It were better, wiser, safer to stand between the Lion andhis prey, than between Catiline and Julia."

  "Then have it!" shouted the smith. "All is discovered! all undone!Lentulus and Cethegus, Gabinius and Statilius, and Cæparius all dead bythe hangman’s noose in the Tullianum!"

  "The idiots! is that all? thy precious tidings! See! how I will avengethem." And he struggled to shake himself free from the grasp of Crispus.

  But the smith held him firmly, and replied, "It is not all, Catiline.Metellus Celer is within ten leagues of the camp, at the foot of themountains. We have no retreat left into Gaul. Come! come! speak to thesoldiers! You can deal with this harlotry hereafter."

  Catiline glared upon him, as if he would have stabbed him to the heart;but seeing the absolute necessity of enquiring into the truth of thisreport, he turned to leave the room.

  "The Gods be praised! the Gods have spoken loud! The Gods have saved me!"cried Julia falling on her knees. "Are there no Gods now, O Catiline?"

  "To Hades! with thy Gods!" and, striking the unhappy girl a coward blow,which felled her to the ground senseless, he rushed from the room with hisconfederate in crime, barring the outer door behind him.