_CHAPTER VII._
Cornelius Palma, after the Prince retired, was apparently for some spacebusied with his reflections. He then talked in a whispering manner withthe secretary, and moved towards an extremity of the chamber. But themoment Silo perceived this, he plucked my sleeve, and drew me to the otherend of our closet, where, as I have told you, the light had admittance ina similar manner. Here another of the imperial apartments was visible inequal distinctness; and in it appeared Athanasia and her friend, aswaiting now at length in entire composure the moment when they should besummoned.
Palma entering, both rose, and he, returning their salutation, remainedbefore them for a moment in silence, his eyes fixed on Athanasia. It wasto Aurelius, nevertheless, that his first words were addressed:--"From whathas been reported of your behaviour at the execution of Cotilius, I fearthere is nothing to be gained by speaking to _you_, concerning the onlymeans by which your own safety can yet be secured. You are obstinate, oldman, in your superstition?"--"Noble Palma," said the priest, "contempt isthe only thing I fear from men. But I thank my God, that it is the onlything I have it in my power to avoid."--"I will not argue with you,"answered Palma, pointing to a door near him:--"It was not with any purposeof bending you, that I undertook this painful office. I desire to speak infreedom with one whose case is, I trust, less hopeless."
The old man, pointing to his fetters, said meekly, "Let them guard mewhither it pleases you."
"Sir," said Athanasia, "I pray you let Aurelius remain; imagine not that Ishall either hear or answer less freely because of my friend's presence."
"He will, at least, retire to the other end of the chamber," saidPalma--"and interfere no farther."
The priest drew back;--Athanasia, on her part, seeing that Palma hesitated,and seemed at a loss how to begin, said to him in a tone of modestcomposure:--"Noble sir, if your purpose be indeed as kind as I think it is,I pray you spare me at least the pain that is needless, and spare yourselfwhat I am sure is painful to you. You see my youth and my sex, and it isnot unnatural for you to think as you do; but know that my faith is fixed,and that I hope I shall not be deserted, when I strive even at the lastmoment to do it no dishonour."
"This gray beard," said Palma, "has made you, then, thoroughly aChristian?"
"I would it were so," she answered--"I would to God it were so!"
"Lady," resumed Palma, "we have knowledge both of your father's highcharacter, and of your own amiable dispositions. If you persist in thismanner, you will give grief to Caesar; and as for your family, have you yetseriously considered into what misery they must be plunged?"
"Sir," she replied, "this is cruel kindness. I have considered allthings."
"Young maiden," continued Palma, "the touch of the physician's knife ispainful, yet his hand must not falter. But I have sent for those, who, Ihope, may speak more effectually."
The Senator turned from the pedestal on which he had been leaning, andwalked to the door over against where Aurelius was sitting: and after amoment had elapsed, there entered, even as I had anticipated, both heruncles, Lucius and Velius. Behind them came, wrapped in her consecratedveil, the Priestess of Apollo; and last of all, gazing wildly around, herapparel disordered, the friend of her youth, the sister of her bosom,--sheto whom in all things, save one, Athanasia's heart had ever been laidopen. The two Patricians advanced, deeply dejected, towards the placewhere Athanasia stood waiting their approach. The stately Priestess,walking yet more slowly, lifted the veil from her face, which was pale andcalm as marble. But when the youthful companion at last rested her eyeupon her friend, and the fettered hands clasped together on that bosom,she rushed past them all, and was folded in a cold embrace; for thoughAthanasia pressed Sempronia to her bosom, I saw also that she trembledfrom head to foot, and that her eyes were riveted on those who approachedwith seriousness more terrible than the passion of young sympathy.
"Athanasia," said Lucius, taking her by the hand, "look not upon us thus;we come as to a daughter."
"Dearest," said old Velius, "listen to thy true friends. Do you put morefaith in the words of strangers than in the blood of kindred--the affectionof your father's brothers--the guardians of his dear orphan?"
"Wo is me!" said Athanasia--"O God, strengthen me! Why, oh, why am I forcedto wound these kind hearts! Have pity upon me, have pity upon me--you knownot what you speak of, else you would all be silent."
"Weep," said the Priestess; "weep, and weep largely. There is yet time torepent. Abjure this madness; let the last of your tears be shed upon thealtars of your paternal Gods, and they also will be merciful. Nay, tremblenot when you hear my voice, Athanasia. I love you as tenderly as the rest,and if you have deceived me also, I have long since pardoned."
The Priestess kissed her forehead; and she bowed her head, weeping atlength audibly. But Athanasia speedily recovered herself, and gentlyremoving the hands of Sempronia, stood erect again in the midst.
"Dear friends," said she, "the moments you have to be with me arenumbered; what avails it that they should be spent in words that can haveno effect? I have been baptized in the name of the one true God--I havepartaken of the symbols of the Christian mystery--and I have no more powerto bring myself out of this peril, than he that stands in the frontrank--without sword or buckler--deprived of all things but his honour."
"Athanasia!" said Velius, "alas! my dear girl, what madness is this? Doyou hold yourself wiser than all the wise men, and all the good, and allthe great men that have ever lived in Rome? Do you deem yourself able topenetrate mysteries from which all the sages of the earth have retreatedwith humility? Consider with yourself--remember the modesty that might bebecoming in your tender years--and, I must speak the truth, yourignorance."
"Oh, sir!" she answered, "believe not that I have been brought into thisplace, because of my being puffed up with emptiness of conceit. I knowwell that I am a poor, young, unlearned creature; but God gives notaccording to our deserts; and because I am poor and ignorant, must Itherefore reject the promise of his riches, and the great light that hasbeen manifested to me,--which, would to God it had also been to you,despite the perils which a dark world has thrown around it."
"O Athanasia!" said young Sempronia, "I know the secrets of your heart,although you have kept from me some of them. Think, dear sister, of allthe love that we bear to you--and, oh! think of Valerius."
"The more, then, is the sacrifice!" said Athanasia. "Caius Valerius alsois a Christian--at least I hope in God he will soon be sealed into ourbrotherhood."
"Amen! amen!" said Aurelius.
The Priestess turned round when he uttered this, and observing that healso was fettered, "Blasphemer!" cried she, "behold the end of yourfrenzy. Your eyes are dim, your clay is already yearning, it may be, to besprinkled into ashes; but behold your victim. Ye Gods that see all things,have mercy upon the errors of deceived, ensnared, murdered youth! HoaryApostate! feeble though you be, may strength be given to you in anger,that you may taste the full struggle and the true agony. May you be strongto wrestle, that you may fall slowly, and feel your fall! Would to theGods, just and merciful, that you might struggle and fall alone!"
"Rash woman," said the manacled Saint, "most surely your last wish ismine. But why is it that you have come hither with cruel words, toimbitter equally the last moments of a life that is dear to you, and alife that you despise? You speak of ignorance and of deceit. Little knowye who are the deceived. We are the servants of the living God, whoselight will soon shine abroad among the nations, and quench glimmeringtapers, fashioned with the hands of men, with which, hitherto, ye have satcontented amidst darkness. Caesar may bind and slay--but think ye that thespirit is his to do with it what he will? Think ye that chains anddungeons, and the sword of man can alter the course of things that are tobe, or shake from its purpose the will of Him, in whom, blind andignorant, ye refuse to behold the image of the Maker of all--shutting eyes,and ears, and your proud hearts; and blaspheming against the God ofheaven, whose
glory ye ascribe to stocks and stones, and to the ghosts ofwicked and bloody tyrants, long since mouldered into dust,--and to the sun,and the moon, and the stars of the sky, which God set there to rule theday and the night, even as he lets loose his winds to scatter the leavesof the forest, and to lift up the waves of the great deep?--Leave us, Ibeseech you.--The young and the old are alike steadfast, for God is ourstrength, and he bestows it on them that ask for it in the name of theRedeemer."
"Peace, thou accursed!" said the Priestess; "I serve the altar, and camenot hither to hear the Gods of heaven and earth insulted by the lips ofhardened impiety.--Athanasia! will you go with us, or will you stay here,and partake the fate of this madman?"
"O God!" cried the maiden; "how shall I speak that they may at length hearme!--Friends--dear friends--if you have any love, any compassion, I pray youkiss me once, and bid me farewell kindly, and lay my ashes in thesepulchre of my fathers--beside the urn of my mother. Fear not that I willdisturb the repose of the place--I shall die in anger against no one, and Ishall have rest at length when I am relieved from this struggle. Pardon,if in any thing besides I ever gave you pain--remember none of my offencesbut this--think of me kindly. And go now, dear friends; kiss my lips inlove, and leave me to bear that which must be borne, since there is noescape but in lying, and in baseness, and in utter perdition here andhereafter. May the Lord strengthen his day soon, and may ye all bless thefull light, although now ye are startled by the redness of the dawn!Farewell--kiss me, Velius--kiss me, Lucius--my aunt also will kiss me."
They did kiss her, and tears were mingled with their embraces; and theysaid no more, but parted from her where she was. Palma himself lifted thedesolate Sempronia from the ground, and he and her father carried her awaysenseless, her tresses sweeping the pavement as they moved.
The prisoners were alone. "The moment is come," said Silo; "now, sir,prepare yourself to risk every thing where every thing may be gained."
He did not whisper this, but spake the words boldly; and ere I couldeither answer any thing, or form any guess as to his meaning, he hadleaped down from my side, and thrown open another secret spring. Silorushed in, and I followed him. It was all done so rapidly, that I scarceremember how. I cannot, indeed, forget the wild and vacant stare ofAthanasia, the cry which escaped from her lips, nor the fervour with whichshe sunk into my embrace. But all the rest is a dream. The door closedswiftly behind us;--swiftly I ran, bearing the maiden in my arms throughall the long course of those deserted chambers. Door after door flew openbefore us. All alike, breathless and speechless, we ran on. We reached thelast of the chambers, the wide and echoing saloon, ere my heart hadrecovered from the first palpitation of surprise; and a moment after webreathed once more the free air of heaven.
"Stop not," said I, "for the sake of God. Hasten, Silo, it is you thatmust guide us."--"Ha!" said he, "already have they perceived it? Great God!after all, is it in vain?" We heard shout echoing shout, and the clappingof doors. "Treachery, treachery! Escape, escape!"--and trumpet and hornmingled in the clamour of surprise, wrath, terror. "Ride, ride," screameda voice high over all the tumult--"ride this instant--guard everyavenue--search every corner--the wing of Domitian!"
"We are lost," said Silo;--"we can never reach the gate."
"To the Temple of Apollo!" said I; "the Priestess will shelter Athanasia."
"Thank God," whispered Silo, "there is one chance more."--And so we beganagain to run swiftly, keeping close beneath the shaded wall of theedifice, and then threading many narrow passages of the hanging gardens ofAdonis, we reached indeed the adjoining court of the Palatine, and foundourselves, where all was as yet silent and undisturbed, under the sacredportico. The great gate was barred. Athanasia herself pointed out apostern, and we stood within the temple.
It was filled as before, (for here the alternations of day and night madeno difference,) with the soft and beautiful radiance proceeding from thetree of lamps. But the fire on the altar burned high and clear, as ifrecently trimmed, and behind its blaze stood one of the ministeringdamsels. Her hand held the chain of the censer, and she was swinging itslowly, while the clouds of fragrant smoke rolled high up above theflames;--and the near light, and the intervening smoke, and the occupationwith which she was busied, prevented her from at first perceiving whatintrusion had been made on the solitude of the place. Athanasia ran on,and clasping the knees of the astonished girl with her fettered hands,began to implore her by the memory of old affection and companionship, andfor the sake of all that was dear to her, to give escape, if escape werepossible--at least to give concealment. The girl had dropped the censerfrom her hand, and seemed utterly confused, and unable to guess themeaning of what she saw and heard. "Lady!" cried Silo, falling by the sideof Athanasia--"Oh, lady! stand not here considering, for this is the verymoment of utmost peril. Behold these fetters--they tell you from what herflight hath been."
The girl grasped the hands of Athanasia, and gazed upon the manacles, andstill seemed quite amazed and stupified; and while Silo was renewing hisentreaties, we heard suddenly some one trying to open the postern whichthe freedman had fastened behind us. Once and again a violent hand essayedto undo the bolt, and then all was quiet again. And in a moment after, thegreat gate was itself thrown open, and the Priestess entered, followed byher two brothers, who supported between them the yet faint and weepingyoung Sempronia.
In a moment Athanasia had rushed across the temple, and knelt down withher forehead to the ground, close by where the feet of her haughtykinswoman were planted.
"Unhappy!" said she; "by what magic do I behold you here? How have youescaped? and why--oh! why fled hither? Think ye, that here, in the Templeof Apollo, the priestess of an insulted God can give shelter to blasphemyflying from the arms of justice? Ha! and he, too, is here!--Outcast! howdurst thou? Speak, unhappy Athanasia--every thing is dark, and I see onlythat you have brought hither----"--"Friends, friends--oh! blame them not,"interrupted the maiden--"Oh! blame them not for venturing all to save me.Oh! help us, and help speedily--for they search every where, and they mayspeedily be here."
"Here?" cried the priestess--"who, I pray you? Ha! run, fly, bolt the door.If Caesar speaks, I answer."
The ring of arms, and voices of angry men, were heard distinctlyapproaching. In a moment more we could hear them talking together beneaththe very portico, and trying, in their turn, to thrust open the massivevalves of the temple. "Who calls there?" cried the Priestess--"Who callsand knocks? If a suppliant approaches, let him come as asuppliant."--"Castor! We are no suppliants," answered a rough voice:--"Deador alive, you must give up our pretty Christians. Come, come, my slymasters; yield, yield, there is no flying from Caesar."
"Peace, insolent!" quoth the Priestess--"peace, and begone! This is theTemple of Apollo, and ye shall find no Christians here. Turn, rude man,and dread the arm that guarded Delphos!" And saying so, she at lengthlifted up Athanasia, and moved towards the other extremity of the fane,where, as I had occasion once to tell you before, the private chamber ofthe Priestess was situated on the right hand beyond the statue of Apollo.In passing the image she halted an instant, laid her hand on her eyes, andkissed its feet, with a murmur of supplication; but that was her onlyutterance: and the rest gave none.
She thus led us across the chamber in which, on a former day, I had heardAthanasia sing; and in like manner, having taken a lamp in her hand, onthrough the long passages which conduct towards the receptacle wherein theSybilline prophecies are said to be preserved. She opened the door whichshe had, on that earlier day, told me led into the repository of thosemysterious scrolls. Two inner doors appeared before us; that to the leftshe opened likewise, and we perceived, descending from its threshold, adark flight of steps, as if down into the centre of the rock.
"Here," said she, as she paused, and held the lamp over the gloomyperspective--"here, at last, I leave you, having already done too much,whether I think of the God I serve, or of Trajan, or of myself. But forthe blood of kindred not little may be dared. Go with her,
since you havecome with her. More I cannot do. Here--take this lamp; the door at thebottom is fastened only from within; let it fall behind you, and make whatspeed you may."
"One thing," said Silo, "had better be done ere you depart;" and so, veryadroitly, he, by means of his jailer's key, relieved both of them fromtheir fetters. He then whispered, "Go no farther, Valerius; you may restassured that no one suspects us." I saw that he designed to return intothe courts of the Palatine, and so proceed homewards, as if ignorant ofevery thing that had occurred. The good freedman had no other course topursue, either in duty to himself or to his family. But for me, all mycares were here. I squeezed by the hand both Lucius and Velius, and bothwarmly returned my pressure. The Priestess gave the lamp into my hand, andthe door was shut upon us; and we began, with hearts full of thankfulness,but not yet composed enough to taste of lightness--with thankfulnessuppermost in our confused thoughts, and with no steady footsteps, todescend into the unknown abyss.