CHAPTER III
"FURENS QUID FOEMINA"
"The chariot has turned into the Flaminian Way," said the urchin, runningbreathlessly back to his mistress. "Oh! so fast! so fast!" and he clappedhis little black hands with the indescribable delight all children take inrapidity of movement.
"The Flaminian Way!" repeated Valeria. "He must go round by the Great Gateand the Triumphal Arches to get home. Myrrhina, if we make haste, we shallyet be in time."
In less than ten minutes the two women had crossed the wide pleasure-grounds which skirted Valeria's mansion, and had let themselves out by apass-key into the street. So complete, however, was their transformationthat the most intimate friend would have failed to recognise in theseshrouded, hurrying figures, the fashionable Roman lady and her attendant.A wig of curling yellow hair covered Valeria's nut-brown tresses, and thelower part of her face was concealed by a mask, whilst Myrrhina, closely-veiled and wrapped in a dark-coloured mantle, stained and threadbare withmany a winter's storm, looked like some honest child of poverty, bound onone of the humble errands of daily plebeian life. As they tripped rapidlyalong a narrow and little frequented street,--one of the many inconvenientthoroughfares which Nero's great fire had spared, and which stillintersected the magnificence of the Imperial City,--they had to pass amiserable-looking house, with a low shabby doorway, which was yet securedby strong fastenings of bolts and bars, as though its tenant hadsufficient motives for affecting privacy and retirement. The women lookedmeaningly at each other while they approached it, for the dwelling ofPetosiris the Egyptian was too well known to all who led a life ofpleasure or intrigue in Rome. He it was who provided potions, lovephiltres, charms of every description, and whom the superstitious of allclasses, no trifling majority, young and old, rich and poor, male andfemale, consulted in matters of interest and affection; the supplanting ofa rival, the acquisition of a heart, and the removal of those who stood inthe way either of a fortune or a conquest. It is needless to observe thatthe Egyptian's wealth increased rapidly; and that humbler visitors had toturn from his door disappointed, day after day, waiting the leisure of thecelebrated magician.
But if Valeria hurried breathlessly through the dirty and ill-conditionedstreet, she stopped transfixed when she reached its farthest extremity,and beheld the tribune's chariot, standing empty in the shade, as thoughwaiting for its master. The white horses beguiled their period of inactionin the heat, by stamping, snorting, and tossing their heads, whileAutomedon, now nodding drowsily, now staring vacantly about him, scarcelynoticed the figures of the two women, so well were they disguised.
"What can he be doing there?" whispered Valeria anxiously; and Myrrhinareplied in the same cautious tones, "If Placidus be trafficking forphiltres with the Egyptian, take my word for it, madam, there will be lessof love than murder in the draught!"
Then they hurried on faster than before, as if life and death hung uponthe rapidity of their footsteps.
Far back, up a narrow staircase, in a dark and secluded chamber, satPetosiris, surrounded by the implements of his art. Enormous as his wealthwas supposed to be, he suffered no symptoms of it to appear, either in hisdwelling or his apparel. The walls of his chamber were bare and weather-stained, totally devoid of ornament, save for a mystic figure traced hereand there on their surface, while the floor was scorched, and the ceilingblackened, with the burning liquids that had fallen on the one, and theheavy aromatic vapours that clung about the other. The magician's ownrobe, though once of costly materials, and surrounded with a broad border,on which cabalistic signs and numerals were worked in golden thread, nowsadly frayed, was worn to the last degree of tenuity, and his linen head-dress, wound in a multiplicity of folds, till it rose into a peak some twofeet high, was yellow with dirt and neglect. Under this grotesque coveringpeered forth a pair of shrewd black eyes, set in a grave emaciated face.They denoted cunning, audacity, and that restless vigilance which arguedsome deficiency or warping of the brain, a tendency, however remote, toinsanity, from which, with all their mental powers, these impostors areseldom free. There was nothing else remarkable about the man. He had thedeep yellow tint with the supple figure and peculiar nostril of theEgyptian, and when he rose in compliment to his visitor, his low statureafforded a quaint contrast to his trailing robes and real dignity ofbearing.
The tribune--for he it was whose entrance disturbed the calculations onwhich the magician was engaged--accosted the latter with an air of abruptand almost contemptuous familiarity. It was evident that Placidus was agood customer, one who bought largely while he paid freely; and Petosiris,throwing aside all assumption of mystery or preoccupation, laughedpleasantly as he returned the greeting. Yet was there something jarring inhis laugh, something startling in his abrupt transition to the profoundestgravity; and though his small glittering eyes betrayed a schoolboy's loveof mischief, gleams shot from them at intervals which expressed adiabolical malice, and love of evil for evil's sake.
"Despatch, my man of science!" said the tribune, scarcely noticing theobeisance and expressions of regard lavished on him by his host. "As usualI have little time to spare, and less inclination to enter intoparticulars. Give me what I want--you have it here in abundance--and let mebegone out of this atmosphere, which is enough to stifle the lungs of anhonest man!"
"My lord! my illustrious patron! my worthiest friend!" replied the other,with evident enjoyment of his customer's impatience, "you have but tocommand, you know it well, and I obey. Have I not served you faithfully inall my dealings? Was not the horoscope right to a minute? Did not thecharm protect from evil? and the love philtre ensure success? Have I everfailed, my noble employer? Speak, mighty tribune; thy slave listens toobey."
"Words! words!" replied the other impatiently. "You know what I require.Produce it, there is the price!"
At the same time he threw a bag of gold on the floor, the weight of whichinferred that secrecy must constitute no small portion of the bargain itwas to purchase. Though he affected utter unconsciousness, the Egyptian'seyes flashed at the welcome chink of the metal against the boards; nonethe more, however, would he abstain from tantalising the donor by assuminga misapprehension of his meaning.
"The hour," said he, "is not propitious for casting a horoscope. Evilplanets are in the ascendant, and the influence of the good genius iscounteracted by antagonistic spells. Thus much I can tell you, nobletribune, they are of barbarian origin. Come again an hour later to-morrow,and I will do your bidding."
"Fool!" exclaimed Placidus impatiently, at the same time raising his footas though to spurn the magician like a dog. "Does a man give half ahelmetful of gold for a few syllables of jargon scrawled on a bit ofscorched parchment? You keep but one sort of wares that fetch a price likethis. Let me have the strongest of them."
Neither the gesture, nor the insult it implied, was lost on the Egyptian.Yet he preserved a calm and imperturbable demeanour, while he continuedhis irritating inquiries.
"A philtre, noble patron? A love philtre? They are indeed worth any amountof gold. Maid or matron, vestal virgin or Athenian courtesan, three dropsof that clear tasteless fluid, and she is your own!"
The tribune's evil smile was deepening round his mouth--it was not safe tojest with him any further; he stooped over the magician and whispered twowords in his ear; the latter looked up with an expression in whichcuriosity, horror, and a perverted kind of admiration, were strangelyblended. Then his eyes twinkled once more with the schoolboy's mirth andmalice, while he ransacked a massive ebony cabinet, and drew forth a tinyphial from its secret drawer. Wrapping this in a thin scroll, on which waswritten the word _Cave_ (beware!) to denote the fatal nature of itscontents, he hurried it into the tribune's hands, hid away the bag ofgold, and in a voice trembling with emotion, bade his visitor begone, aninjunction which Placidus obeyed with his usual easy carelessness ofdemeanour, stepping daintily into his chariot, as though his errand hadbeen of the most benevolent and harmless kind.
/> In the meantime, Valeria, accompanied by her attendant, had reached thetribune's house, which she entered with a bold front indeed, but withshaking limbs. Despite her undaunted nature, all the fears and weaknessesof her sex were aroused by the task she had set herself to fulfil, and herwoman's instinct told her that, whatever might be her motives, thecrossing of this notorious threshold was an act she would bitterly repentat some future time. Myrrhina entertained no such misgivings; she lookedon the whole proceeding as an opportunity to display her own talents forintrigue, and make herself, if possible, more necessary than ever to themistress with whose secrets she was so dangerously familiar.
In the outer hall were lounging a few slaves and freedmen, who welcomedthe entrance of the two women with considerably less respect than one ofthem at least was accustomed to consider her due. Damasippus, indeed, witha coarse jest, strove to snatch away the mask that concealed the lowerpart of Valeria's face, but she released herself from his hold soenergetically as to send him reeling back half a dozen paces, not a littlediscomfited by the unexpected strength of that shapely white arm. Thendrawing herself to her full height, and throwing her disguise upon thefloor, she confronted the astonished freedman in her own person, and badehim stand out of her way.
"I am Valeria!" said she, "and here by your master's invitation, slave!for what are you better than a mere slave after all? If I were to hint atyour insolence, he would have you tied to that doorpost, in despite ofyour citizenship, and scourged to death, like a disobedient hound. Pick upthose things," she added loftily, "and show me, some of you, to theprivate apartment of your lord. Myrrhina, you may remain outside, butwithin call."
Completely cowed by her demeanour, and no whit relishing the tone in whichshe threatened him, Damasippus did as he was commanded; while a couple ofslaves, who had remained till now in the background, ushered the visitorinto another apartment, where they left her with many obsequiousassurances that their lord was expected home every moment.
Every moment! Then there was no time to lose. How her heart beat, and whata strange instinct it was that made her feel she was in the vicinity ofthe man she loved! As yet she had formed no plan, she had made nodetermination, she only knew he was in danger, he was to die, and comewhat might, at any risk, at any sacrifice, her place was by his side.Imminent as was the peril, critical as was the moment, through all thetumult of her feelings, she was conscious of a vague wild happiness to benear him; and as she walked up and down the polished floor, counting itstesselated squares mechanically, in her strong mental excitement, shepressed both hands hard against her bosom, as though to keep the heartwithin from beating so fiercely, and to collect all its energies by sheerstrength and force of will.
Thus pacing to and fro, running over in her mind every possible andimpossible scheme for the discovery and release of the slave, whose veryprison she had yet to search out, her quick ear caught the dull anddistant clank of a chain. The sound reached her from an opposite directionto that of the principal entrance; and as all Roman houses wereconstructed on nearly the same plan, Valeria had no fear of losing her wayamong the roomy halls and long corridors of her admirer's mansion. Sheheld her breath as she hurried on, fortunately without meeting a humanbeing, for the household slaves of both sexes had disposed themselves inshady nooks and corners to sleep away the sultriest hours of the day; nordid she stop till she reached a heavy crimson curtain, screening an innercourt, paved and walled by slabs of white stone that refracted the sun'srays with painful intensity. Here she stood still and listened, while hervery lips grew white with emotion, then she drew the curtain, and lookedinto the court.
He had dragged himself as far as his chain would permit, to get thebenefit of some two feet of shade close under the stifling wall. A water-jar, long since emptied, stood on the floor beside him, accompanied by acrust of black mouldy bread. A heavy iron collar, which defied alikestrength and ingenuity, was round his throat, while the massive links thatconnected it with an iron staple let into the pavement would have held anelephant. It was obvious the prisoner could neither stand nor even situpright without constraint; and the white skin of his neck and shoulderswas already galled and blistered in his efforts to obtain relief byoccasional change of posture. Without the key of the heavy padlock thatfastened chain and collar, Vulcan himself could scarcely have released theBriton; and Valeria's heart sank within her as she gazed helplessly round,and thought of what little avail were her own delicate fingers for such atask. There seemed no nearer prospect of help even now that she hadreached him; and she clenched her hand with anger while she reflected howhe must have suffered from heat, and thirst, and physical pain, besidesthe sense of his degradation and the certainty of his doom.
Nevertheless, extended there upon the hard glowing stones, Esca wassleeping as sound and peacefully as an infant. His head was pillowed onone massive arm, half hidden in the clustering yellow locks that showeredacross it, and his large shoulders rose and fell regularly with themeasured breathing of a deep and dreamless slumber. She stole nearersoftly, as afraid to wake him, and for a moment came upon Valeria's facesomething of the deep and holy tenderness with which a mother looks upon achild. Yet light as was that dainty footstep it disturbed, withoutactually rousing, the watchful instincts of the sleeper. He stirred andturned his face upwards with a movement of impatience, while she, hangingover him and drinking in the beauty that had made such wild work with hertranquillity, as if her life had neither hope nor fear beyond the ecstasyof the moment, gazed on his fair features and his closed eyes, till sheforgot time and place and hazard, the emergency of the occasion, and theerrand on which she had herself come. Deeper and deeper sank into herbeing the dangerous influence of the hour and the situation. The summersky above, the hot dreamy solitude around, and there, down at herfeet--nay, so near, that, while she bent over him, his warm breath stirredthe very hair upon her brow--the only face of man that had ever thrilledher heart, sleeping so calmly close to her own, and now made doubly dearby all it had suffered, all it was fated to undergo. Lower and lower,nearer and nearer, bent her dainty head to meet the slave's; and as hestirred once more in his sleep, and a quiet smile stole over hisunconscious countenance, her lips clung to his in one long, loving, andimpassioned kiss.