CHAPTER XXV.
Melissa had wept her fill on the breast of the lady Euryale, wholistened to her woes with motherly sympathy, and yet she felt as if abiting frost had broken and destroyed the blossoms which only yesterdayhad so richly and hopefully decked her young heart. Diodoros's love hadbeen to her like the fair and sunny summer days that turn the sour, hardfruit into sweet and juicy grapes. And now the frost had nipped them.The whole future, and everything round her, now looked gray, colorless,and flat. Only two thoughts held possession of her mind: on theone hand, that of her betrothed, from whom this visit to the Circusthreatened to separate her forever; and on the other, that of herimperial lover, to escape whom she would have flown anywhere, even tothe grave.
Euryale remarked with concern how weary and broken Melissa looked--sodifferent from her usual bright self, while she listened to herfather and Alexander as they consulted with the lady as to the future.Philostratus, who had promised his advice, did not appear; and to thegem-cutter, no proposal could seem so unwelcome as that of leaving hisnative city and his sick favorite, Philip.
He considered it senseless, and a result of the thoroughly wrong-headedviews of sentimental women, to reject the monarch of the world whenhe made honorable proposals to an unpretending girl. But the ladyEuryale--of whom his late wife had always spoken with the highestrespect--and, supported by her, his son Alexander, had both representedto him so forcibly that a union with the emperor would render Melissamost unhappy, if it did not lead to death, that he had been reduced tosilence. Only, when they spoke of the necessity of flight, he burstout again, declaring that the time had not yet come for such extrememeasures.
When Melissa now rejoined them, he spoke of the emperor's behaviortoward her as being worthy of a man of honor, and endeavored to touchher heart by representing what an old man must feel who should be forcedto leave the house where his father and grandfather had lived beforehim, and even the town whose earth held all that was dearest to him.
Here the tears which so easily rose to his eyes began to flow, and,seeing that Melissa's tender heart was moved by his sorrow, he gainedconfidence, and reproached his daughter for having kindled Caracalla'slove, by her radiant eyes--so like her mother's! Honestly believing thathis affection was returned, Caesar was offering her the highest honor inhis power; if she fled from him, he would have every right to complainof having been basely deceived, and to call her a heartless wanton.
Alexander now came to his sister's aid, and reminded him how Melissahad hazarded life and liberty to save him and her brothers. She had beenforced to look so kindly into the tyrant's face if only to sue for theirpardon, and it became him ill to make this a reproach to his daughter.
Melissa nodded gratefully to her brother, but Heron remained firm inhis assertion that to think of flight would be foolish, or at leastpremature.
At this, Alexander repeated to him that Melissa had whispered in hisear that she would rather die at once than live in splendor, but inperpetual fear, by the side of an unloved husband; whereupon Heron beganto breathe hard, as he always did before an outburst of anger.
But a message, calling him to the emperor's presence, soon calmed him.
At parting, he kissed Melissa, and murmured "Would you really drive yourold father out of our dear home, away from his work, and his birds--fromhis garden, and your mother's grave? Is it then so terrible to live asempress, in splendor and honor? I am going to Caesar--you can not hinderme from greeting him kindly from you?"
Without waiting for an answer, he left the room; but when he was outsidehe took care to glance at himself in the mirror, arrange his beard andhair, and place his gigantic form in a few of the dignified attitudes heintended to adopt in the presence of the emperor.
Meanwhile Melissa had thrown off the indifference into which she hadfallen, and her old doubts raised their warning heads with renewedforce.
Alexander swore to be her faithful ally; Euryale once more assured herof her assistance; and yet, more especially when she was moved with pityfor her father, who was to leave all he loved for her sake, she felt asif she were being driven hither and thither, in some frail bark, at themercy of the waves.
Suddenly a new idea flashed through her mind. She rose quickly.
"I will go to Diodoros," she cried, "and tell him all! He shall decide."
"Just now?" asked Euryale, startled. "You would certainly not findyour betrothed alone, and since all the world knows of Caracalla'sintentions, and gazes curiously after you, your visit would instantlybe reported to Caesar. Nor is it advisable for you to present yourselfbefore your offended lover, when you have neither Andreas nor any oneelse to speak for you and take your part."
Melissa burst into tears, but the matron drew her to her and continuedtenderly:
"You must give that up--but, Alexander, do you go to your friend, and beyour sister's mouthpiece!"
The artist consented with all the ardor of brotherly affection, andhaving received from Melissa, whose courage began to rise again, strictinjunctions as to what he was to say to her lover, he departed on hiserrand.
Wholly absorbed by the stormy emotions of her heart, the maiden hadforgotten time and every external consideration; but the lady Euryalewas thoughtful for her, and now led her to her chamber to have her hairdressed for the Circus. The matron carefully avoided, for the present,all mention of her young friend's flight, though her mind was constantlyoccupied with it--and not in vain.
The skillful waiting-woman, whom she had bought from the house ofthe priest of Alexander, who was a Roman knight, loosened the girl'sabundant brown hair, and, with loud cries of admiration, declared itwould be easy to dress such locks in the most approved style of fashion.She then laid the curling-irons on the dish of coals which stood on aslender tripod, and was about to twist it into ringlets; but Melissa,who had never resorted to such arts, refused to permit it. The slaveassured her, however, as earnestly as if it were a matter of the highestimportance, that it was impossible to arrange the curls of a lady ofdistinction without the irons. Euryale, too, begged Melissa to allow it,as nothing would make her so conspicuous in her overdressed surroundingsas excessive simplicity. That was quite true, but it made the girlrealize so vividly what was before her, that she covered her face withher hands and sobbed out:
"To be exposed to the gaze of the whole city--to its envy and itsscorn!"
The matron's warning inquiry, what had become of her favorite'shigh-minded calm, and her advice to restrain her weeping, lest sheshould appear before the public in the Amphitheater with tear-stainedeyes, helped her to compose herself.
The tire-woman had not finished her work when Alexander returned, andMelissa dared not turn her head for fear of disturbing her in her task.But when Alexander began his report with the exclamation, "Who knowswhat foolish gossip has driven him to this?" she sprang up, regardlessof the slave's warning cry. And as her brother went on to relate howDiodoros had left the Serapeum, in spite of the physician's entreatyto wait at least until next morning, but that Melissa need not take itgreatly to heart, it was too much for the girl who had already that daygone through such severe and varied experiences. The ground seemed toheave beneath her feet; sick and giddy she put out her hand to find somesupport, that she might not sink on her knees; in so doing, she caughtthe tall tripod which held the dish of coals. It swayed and fellclattering to the ground, bringing the irons with it. Its burningcontents fell partly on the floor and partly on the festal robe whichMelissa had thrown over a chair before loosening her hair. Alexandercaught her just in time to prevent her falling.
With her healthy nature, Melissa soon regained consciousness, and duringthe first few moments her distress over the spoiled garment threw everyother thought into the background. Shaking her head gravely over theblack-edged holes which the coals had burned in the peplos and theunder-robes, Euryale secretly rejoiced at the accident. She rememberedthat when her heart was torn and bleeding, after the death of her onlychild, her thoughts were taken off herself by the necessary
duty ofproviding mourning garments for herself, her husband, and the slaves.This trivial task had at least helped her to forget for a few hours thebitterness of her grief.
Only anxious to lighten in some sort the fate of the sweet youngcreature whom she had learned to love, she made much of the difficultyof procuring a fresh dress for Melissa, though she was perfectly awarethat her sister-in-law possessed many such. Alexander was commissionedto take one of the emperor's chariots--which always stood ready forthe use of the courtiers between the Serapeum and the springs on theeast--and to hasten to the lady Berenike. The lady begged that he, as anartist, would assist in choosing the robe; and the less conspicuous andcostly it was the better.
To this Melissa heartily agreed, and, after Alexander had gone, Euryalebore off her pale young charge to the eating-room, where she forcedher to take some old wine and a little food, which she would not touchbefore. As the attendant filled the wine-cup, the high-priest himselfjoined them, greeted Melissa briefly and with measured courtesy, andbegged his wife to follow him for a moment into the tablinum.
The attendant, a slave who had grown gray in the service of Timotheus,now begged the young guest, as though he represented his mistress, totake a little food, and not to sip so timidly from the winecup. But thelonely repast was soon ended, and Melissa, strengthened and refreshed,withdrew to the sleeping-apartment. Only light curtains hung at thedoors of the high-priest's hurriedly furnished rooms, and no one noticedMelissa's entrance into the adjoining chamber.
She had never played the eavesdropper, but she had neither the presenceof mind to withdraw, nor could she avoid hearing that her own name wasmentioned.
It was the lady who spoke, and her husband answered in excited tones:
"As to your Christianity, and whatever there may be in it that isoffensive to me as high-priest of a heathen god, we will speak of thatlater. It is not a question now of a difference of opinion, but of aserious danger, which you with your easily-moved heart will bring downupon yourself and me. The gem-cutter's daughter is a lovely creature--Iwill not deny it--and worthy of your sympathy; besides which, you, as awoman, can not bear to see her most sacred feelings wounded."
"And would you let your hands he idle in your lap," interposed his wife,"if you saw a lovable, innocent child on the edge of a precipice, andfelt yourself strong enough to save her from falling? You can not haveasked yourself what would be the fate of a girl like Melissa if she wereCaracalla's wife."
"Indeed I have," Timotheus assured her gravely, "and nothing wouldplease me better than that the maiden should succeed in escaping thatfate. But--the time is short, and I must be brief--the emperor is ourguest, and honors me with boundless confidence. Just now he disclosedto me his determination to make Melissa his wife, and I was forced toapprove it. Thus he looks to me to carry out his wishes; and if themaiden escapes, and there falls on you, or, through you, on me, theshadow of a suspicion of having assisted in her flight, he will haveevery right to regard me as a traitor and to treat me as such. To othersmy life is made sacred by my high office, but the man to whom a humanlife--no matter whose--is no more than that of a sacrificial animal isto you or me, that man would shed the blood of us both without a quiverof the eyelid."
"Then let him!" cried Euryale, hotly. "My bereaved and worn-out life isbut a small price to pay for that of an innocent, blameless creature,glowing with youth and all the happiness of requited love, and with aright to the highest joys that life can offer."
"And I?" exclaimed Timotheus, angrily. "What am I to you since the deathof our child? For the sake of the first person that came to you asa poor substitute for our lost daughter, you are ready to go to yourdeath, and to drag me with you into the gloom of Hades. There speaks theChristian! Even that gentle philosopher on the throne, Marcus Aurelius,was disgusted at your fellow-believers' hideous mania for death. TheChristian expects in the next world all that is denied to him in this.But we think of this life, in which the Deity has placed us. To melife is the highest blessing, and yours is dearer to me than my own.Therefore I say, firmly and decidedly: Melissa must not make her escapefrom this house. If she is determined to fly this night, let her doso--I shall not hinder her. If your counsel is of service to her, I amglad; but she must not enter this house again after the performance inthe Circus, unless she be firmly resolved to become Caesar's wife. Ifshe can not bring herself to this, the apartments which belong to usmust be closed against her, as against a dangerous foe."
"And whither can she go?" asked Euryale, sadly and with tearful eyes,for there was no gainsaying so definite an order from her lord andmaster. "The moment she is missed, they will search her father'shouse; and, if she takes advantage of Berenike's ship, it will soon bediscovered that it was your brother's wife who helped her to escape fromCaracalla."
"Berenike will know what to do," answered Timotheus, composedly. "She,if any one, knows how to take care of herself. She has the protection ofher influential brother-in-law, Coeranus; and just now there is nothingshe would not do to strike a blow at her hated enemy."
"How sorrow and revenge have worked upon that strange woman!" exclaimedthe lady, sadly. "Caracalla has injured her, it is true--"
"He has, and to-day he has added a further, deeper insult, for he forcesher to appear in the Amphitheater, with the wives of the other citizenswho bear the cost of this performance. I was there, and heard him sayto Seleukus, who was acting as spokesman, that he counted on seeing hiswife, of whom he had heard so much, in her appointed place this evening.
"This will add fuel to the fire of her hatred. If she only does notallow her anger to carry her away, and to show it in a manner that shewill afterward regret!--But my time is short. I have to walk beforethe sacred images in full ceremonial vestments, and accompanied bythe priest of Alexander. You, unfortunately, take no pleasure in suchspectacles. Once more, then--if the girl is determined to fly, she mustnot return here. I repeat, if any one can help her to get away, it isBerenike. Our sister-in-law must take the consequences. Caesar can notaccuse her of treason, at any rate, and her interference in the matterwill clear us of all suspicion of complicity."
No word of this conversation had escaped Melissa. She learned nothingnew from it, but it affected her deeply.
Warm-hearted as she was, she fully realized the debt of gratitude sheowed to the lady Euryale; and she could not blame the high-priest, whomprudence certainly compelled to close his doors against her. And yet shewas wounded by his words. She had struggled so hard in these last daysto banish all thought of her own happiness, and shield her dear onesfrom harm, that such selfishness appeared doubly cruel to her. Didit not seem as if this priest of the great Deity to whom she had beentaught to pray, cared little what became of his nearest relatives, solong as he and his wife were unmolested? That was the opposite of whatAndreas had praised as the highest duty, the last time she had walkedwith him to the ferry; and since then Johanna had told her the storyof Christ's sufferings, and she understood the fervor with which thefreedman had spoken of the crucified Son of God--the great example ofall unselfishness.
In the enthusiasm of her warm young heart she felt that what she hadheard of the Christians' teacher was beautiful, and that she too wouldnot find it hard to die for those she loved.
With drooping head Euryale re-entered the room, and gazed with kind,anxious eyes into the girl's face, as if asking her forgiveness.Following the impulse of her candid heart, Melissa threw her fair youngarms round the aged lady, and, to her great surprise, after kissing herwarmly on brow and mouth and eyes, cried in tones of tender entreaty:
"Forgive me. I did not want to listen, and yet I could not choose buthear. No word of your discourse escaped me. I know now that I must notfly, and that I must bear whatever fate the gods may send me. I usedoften to say to myself, 'Of how little importance is my life or myhappiness!' And now that I must give up my lover, come what may I carenot what the future has in store for me. I can never forget Diodoros;and, when I think that everything is at an end between us, it is
as ifmy heart were torn in pieces. But I have found out, in these last days,what heavy troubles one may bear without breaking down. If my flight isto bring danger, if not death and ruin, upon so many good people, I hadbetter stay. The man who lusts after me--it is true, when I think of hisembrace my blood runs cold! But perhaps I shall be able to endure eventhat. And then--if I crush my heart into silence, and renounce Diodorosforever, and give myself up to Caesar--as I must--tell me you will notthen close your doors against me, but that I may stay with you till thehorrid hour comes when Caracalla calls me?"
The matron had listened with deep emotion to Melissa's victory over herdesires and her aversions. This heathen maiden, brought up in the rightway by a good mother, and to whom life had taught many a hard lesson,was she not already treading in the footsteps of the Saviour? This childwas offering up the great and pure love of her heart to preserve othersfrom sorrow and danger; and what a different course of action was sheherself to pursue in obedience to her husband's orders--her husband,whose duty it was to offer a shining example to the whole heathen world!
She thought of Abraham's sacrifice, and wondered if the Lord might notperhaps be satisfied with Melissa's willingness to lay her love upon thealtar. In any case, whatever she, Euryale, could do to save her from theworst fate that could befall a woman, that should be done, and this timeit was she who drew the other toward her and kissed her.
Her heart was full to overflowing, and yet she did not forget to warnMelissa to be careful, when she was about to lay her head with itsartificially arranged curls upon the lady's breast.
"No, no," she said, tenderly warding off the maiden's embrace. Then,laying her hands on the girl's shoulders, she looked her straight in theface, and continued: "Here you will ever find a resting-place. When yourhair lies smoothly round your sweet face, as it did yesterday, then layit on my breast as often as you will. Aye, and it can and shall be herein the Serapeum; though not in these rooms, which my lord and mastercloses against you. I told you of the time being fulfilled for each oneof us, and when yours came you proved yourself to be the good tree ofwhich our Lord speaks as bearing good fruit. You look at me inquiringly;how indeed should you understand the words of a Christian? But I shallfind time enough in the next few days to explain them to you; for--I sayit again--you shall remain near me while the emperor searches the cityand half the world over for you. Keep that firmly in your mind and letit help to give you courage in the Circus."
"But my father?" cried Melissa, pointing to the curtain, through whichHeron's loud voice now became audible.
"Depend on me," whispered the lady, hurriedly; "and rest assured that hewill be warned in time. Do not betray my promise. If we were to take himinto our confidence now, he would spoil all. As soon as he is gone, andyour brother has returned, you two shall hear--"
They were interrupted by the steward, who, with a peculiar smile uponhis clean-shaven lips, came to announce Heron's visit.
The communicative gem-cutter had already confided to the servant whatit was that agitated him so greatly, but Melissa was astonished at thechange in her father's manner.
The shuffling gait of the gigantic, unwieldy man, who had grown graystooping over his work, had gained a certain majestic dignity. Hischeeks glowed, and the gray eyes, which had long since acquired a fixedlook from straining over the gemcutting, now beamed with a blissfulradiance. Something wonderful must have happened to him, and, withoutwaiting to be questioned by the lady, he poured out to her the news thathe would have been overjoyed to have shouted in the market-place for allto hear.
The reception accorded to him at Caesar's table, he declared, had beenflattering beyond all words. The godlike monarch had treated him moreconsiderately, nay, sometimes with more reverence, than his own sons.The best dishes had been put before him, and Caracalla had asked allsorts of questions about his future consort, and, on hearing thatMelissa had sent him greetings, he had raised himself and drunk to himas if he were a friend.
His table-companions, too, had treated Heron with every distinction.Immediately on his arrival the monarch had desired them to honor himas the father of the future empress. They had all agreed with him indemanding that Zminis the Egyptian should be punished with death, andhad even encouraged him to give the reins to his righteous anger. He, ifany one, was in the habit of being moderate in all things, if only asa good example to his sons; and he had proved in many a Dionysiac feastthat the god could not easily overpower him. The amount of wine hehad drunk to-day would generally have had no more effect upon him thanwater, and yet he had felt now and then as if he were drunken, and thewhole festal hall turned round with him. Even now he would be quiteincapable of walking forward in a given straight line.
With the exclamation, "Such is life!--a few hours ago on therowing-bench, and fighting with the brander of the galleys for tryingto brand me with the slave-mark, and now one of the greatest among thegreat!" he closed his tale, for a glance through the window showed himthat time pressed.
With strange bashfulness he then gazed at a ring upon his right hand,and said hesitatingly that his own modesty made the avowal difficult tohim; but the fact was, he was not the same man as when he last leftthe ladies. By the grace of the emperor he had been made a praetorian.Caesar had at first wanted to make him a knight; but he esteemed hisMacedonian descent higher than that class, to which too many freedslaves belonged for his taste. This he had frankly acknowledged, and theemperor must have considered his objections valid, for he immediatelyspoke a few words to the prefect Macrinus, and then told the others togreet him as senator with the rank of praetorian.
Then indeed he felt as if the seat beneath him were transformed into awild steed carrying him away, through sea and sky-wherever it pleased.He had had to hold tightly to the arm of the couch, and only rememberedthat some one--who it was he did not know--had whispered to him to thankCaesar.
"This," continued the gem-cutter, "restored me so far to myself that Icould express my gratitude to your future husband, my child. I am onlythe second Egyptian who has entered the senate. Coeranus was the onlyone before me. What favor! And how can I describe what followed? All thedistinguished members of the senate and the past consuls offered me abrotherly embrace as their new colleague. When Caesar commanded me toappear at your side in the Circus, wearing the white toga with thebroad purple stripe, and I remarked that the shops of the betterclothes-sellers would be shut by this time on account of theperformance, and that such a toga was not to be obtained, there was agreat laugh over the Alexandrian love of amusement. From all sides theyoffered me what I required; but I gave the preference to Theocritus, onaccount of his height. What is long enough for him will not be too shortfor me.--And now one of the emperor's chariots is waiting for me. Ifonly Alexander were at home! The house ought to have been illuminatedand hung with garlands for my arrival, and a crowd of slaves waiting tokiss my hands.
"There will soon be more than our two. I hope Argutis may understand howto fasten on the shoes with the straps and the crescent! Philip knowseven less of these things than I do myself, besides which the poorboy is laid low. It is lucky that I remembered him. I had very nearlyforgotten his existence. Ah!--if your mother were still alive! She hadclever-fingers! She--Ah, lady Euryale, Melissa has perhaps told youabout her. Olympias she was called, like the mother of the greatAlexander, and, like her, she bore good children. You yourself werepraising my boys just now. And the girl!.. Only a few days ago, it wasa pretty, shy thing that no one would ever have expected to do anythinggreat; and now, what have we not to thank that gentle child for? Thelittle one was always her mother's darling. Eternal gods! I dare notthink of it! If only she who is gone might have had the joy of hearingme called senator and praetor! O child! if she could have sat withus to-day in the emperor's seats, and we two could have seen youthere--you, our pride, honored by the whole city, Caesar's futurebride."
Here the strong man with the soft heart broke down, and, claspinghis hands over his face, sobbed aloud, while Melissa clung to him andstr
oked his bearded cheeks.
Under her loving words of consolation he soon regained his composure,and, still struggling against the rising tears, he cried:
"Thank Heaven, there can be no more foolish talk of flight! I shall stayhere; I shall never take advantage of the ivory chair that belongs tome in the curia in Rome. Your husband, my child, and the state, wouldscarcely expect it of me. If, however, Caesar presents me as hisfather, with estates and treasures, my first thought shall be to raise amonument to your mother. You shall see! A monument, I tell you, withouta rival. It shall represent the strength of man submissive to womanlycharm."
He bent down to kiss his daughter's brow, and whispered in her ear:
"Gaze confidently into the future, my girl. A father's eye is not easilydeceived, and so I tell you--that the emperor has been forced to shedblood do insure the safety of the throne; but, in personal intercoursewith him, I learned to know your future husband as a noble-hearted man.Indeed, I am not rich enough to thank the gods for such a son-in-law!"
Melissa gazed after her father, incapable of speaking. It went toher heart that all these hopes should be changed to sorrow anddisappointment through her. And so she said, with tearful eyes, andshook hey head when the lady assured her that with her it was a questionof a cruelly spoiled life, whereas her father would only have torenounce some idle vanities which he would forget as easily as he hadseized upon them.
"You do not know him," answered the maiden, sadly. "If I fly, then hetoo must hide himself in a far country. He will never be happy again ifthey take him from the little house--his birds--our mother's grave. Itwas for her sake alone that he took no thought for the ivory seat in thecuria. If you only knew how he clings to everything that reminds him ofour mother, and she never left our city."
Here she was interrupted by the entrance of Philostratus. He was notalone; an imperial slave accompanied him, bringing a graceful basketwith gifts from the emperor to Melissa.
First came a wreath of roses and lotos-flowers, looking as if they hadbeen plucked just before sunrise, for among the blossoms and leavesthere flashed and sparkled a glittering dew of diamonds, lightlyfastened on delicate silver wires. Next came a bunch of flowers, roundwhose stems a supple golden snake was twined, covered with rubies anddiamonds and destined to coil itself round a woman's arm. The thirdwas a necklace of extremely costly Persian pearls, which had oncebelonged--so the merchant had declared--to great Cleopatra's treasure.
Melissa loved flowers; and the costly gifts that accompanied themcould not fail to rejoice a woman's heart. And yet she only gave them apassing glance, reddening painfully as she did so.
What the bearer had to say to her was of more importance to her thanthe gifts he brought, and in fact the troubled manner of the usuallycomposed philosopher betrayed that he had something more serious todeliver than the gifts of his love-sick lord.
The lady Euryale, perceiving that he meant to try once more to persuadeMelissa to yield, hastened to declare that she had found ways and meansto help the maiden to escape; but he shook his head with a sigh, andsaid, thoughtfully:
"Well--well--I shall go on board the ship while the wild beasts aredoing their part in the Circus. May we meet again happily, either hereor else where! My way leads me first to Caesar's mother, to inform herof his choice of a wife. Not that he needs her consent: whose consent ordisapproval does Caracalla care for? But I am to win Julia's heart foryou. Possibly I may succeed; but you--you scorn it, and fly from herson. And yet--believe me, child--the heart of that woman is a treasurethat has no equal, and, if she should open her arms to you, there wouldbe little that you could not endure. When I left you, just now, I putmyself in your place, and approved of your resolve; but it would bewrong not to remind you once more of what you must expect if you followyour own will, and if Caesar considers himself scorned, ill-treated, anddeceived by you."
"In the name of all the gods, what has happened?" broke in Melissa,pallid with fear. Philostratus pressed his hand to his brow, and hisvoice was hoarse with suppressed emotion as he continued: "Nothingnew-only things are taking their old course. You know that Caracallathreatened old Claudius Vindex and his nephew with death because oftheir opposition to his union with you. We all hoped, however, that hewould be moved to exercise mercy. He is in love--he was so gracious atthe feast! I myself was foremost among those who did their utmost todispose Caesar to clemency.. But he would not be moved, and, before thesun goes down upon this day, the old man and the young one--the chiefestamong the nobles of Rome--will be no more. And it is Caracalla's lovefor you, child, that sheds this blood. Ask yourself after this how manylives will be sacrificed when your flight causes hatred and fury toreign supreme in the soul of the cheated monarch!"
With quickened breath Euryale had listened to the philosopher, withoutregarding the girl; but scarcely had Philostratus uttered his last wordsthan Melissa ran to her, and, clasping her hands passionately on thematron's arm, she cried, "Ought I to obey you, Euryale, and the terrorsof my own heart, and flee?"
Then releasing the lady, she turned again to the philosopher, and burstout: "Or are you in the right, Philostratus? Must I stay, to prevent themisery that threatens to overtake others?"
Beside herself, torn by the storm that raged in her soul, she claspedher hands upon her brow and continued, wildly: "You are both of youso wise, and surely wish the best. How can you give me such oppositeadvice? And my own heart?--why have the gods struck it dumb? Time waswhen it spoke loudly enough if ever I was in doubt. One thing I knowfor certain: if by the sacrifice of my life I could undo it all, I wouldjoyfully cast myself before the lions and panthers, like the Christianmaiden whom my mother saw smiling radiantly as she was led into thearena. Splendor and power are as hateful to me as the flowers yonderwith their false dew. I was ever taught to close my ear to the voiceof selfishness. If I have any wish for myself, it is that I may keep myfaith with him to whom it was promised. But for love of my father, andif I could be certain of saving many from death and misery, I wouldstay, though I should despise myself and be separated forever from mybeloved!"
"Submit to the inevitable," interposed the philosopher, with eagerentreaty. "The immortal gods will reward you with the blessingsof hundreds whom a word from you will have saved from ruin anddestruction."
"And what say you?" asked the maiden, gazing with anxious expectancyinto the matron's face. "Follow your own heart!" replied the lady,deeply moved.
Melissa had hearkened to both counselors with eager ear, and both hunganxiously on her lips, while, as if taken out of herself, she gazed withpanting bosom into the empty air. They had not long to wait. Suddenlythe maiden approached Philostratus and said with a firmness and decisionthat astonished her friend:
"This will I do--this--I feel it here--this is the right. I remain, Irenounce the love of my heart, and accept what Fate has laid upon me. Itwill be hard, and the sacrifice that I offer is great. But I must firsthave the certainty that it shall not be in vain."
"But, child," cried Philostratus, "who can look into the future, andanswer for what is still to come?"
"Who?" asked Melissa, undaunted. "He alone in whose hand lies my future.To Caesar himself I leave the decision. Go you to him now and speak forme. Bring him greeting from me, and tell him that I, whom he honors withhis love, dare to entreat him modestly but earnestly not to punish theaged Claudius Vindex and his nephew for the fault they were guilty of onmy account. For my sake would he deign to grant them life--and liberty?Add to this that it is the first proof I have asked of his magnanimity,and clothe it all in such winning words as Peitho can lay upon youreloquent lips. If he grants pardon to these unfortunate ones, it shallbe a sign to me that I may be permitted to shield others from his wrath.If he refuses, and they are put to death, then will he himself havedecided our fate otherwise, and he sees me for the last time alive inthe Circus. Thus shall it be--I have spoken."
The last words came like a stern order, and Philostratus seemed tohave some hopes of the emperor's clemency, for
his love's sake, and thephilosopher's own eloquence. The moment Melissa ceased, he seized herhand and cried, eagerly:
"I will try it; and, if he grant your request, you remain?"
"Yes," answered the maiden, firmly. "Pray Caesar to have mercy, softenhis heart as much as you are able. I expect an answer before going tothe Circus."
She hurried back into the sleeping-room without regarding Philostratus'sanswer. Once there, she threw herself upon her knees and prayed, nowto the manes of her mother, now--it was for the first time--to thecrucified Saviour of the Christians, who had taken upon himself apainful death to bring happiness to others. First she prayed forstrength to keep her vow, come what might; and then she prayed forDiodoros, that he might not be made wretched if she found herselfcompelled to break her troth with him. Her father and brothers, too,were not forgotten, as she commended their lives to a higher power.
When Euryale looked into the room, she found Melissa still upon herknees, her young frame shaken as with fever. So she withdrew softly, andin the Temple of Serapis, where her husband served as high-priest, sheprayed to Jesus Christ that he who suffered little children to come untohim would lead this wandering lamb into the right path.