Meanwhile the father and the betrothed husband vainly sought the
maiden. They could search only in secret: open protection, undisguised
defense could not be given to Sophronia.
Old Mesembrius had not been seen in Rome for a long time, and
therefore every one was surprised when the distinguished patrician
again appeared in the Forum, leaning on his ivory crutches and pausing
at every step.
"Ah, worthy Senator, you rarely show yourself in Rome," said a
perfumed patrician dandy. "Since the death of Probus we have not seen
you even once."
"I am old and feeble, my good Pompeius. My feet will scarcely carry
me, and I should not have recognised you had you not spoken to me,
for my eyes are almost blind."
"But why do you not live in Rome?"
"If you should see the splendid turnips I raise in my garden, you
surely would not summon me to Rome. An old man like me interests
himself only in his apricot slips."
At this moment a messenger from the Capitol whispered to Pompeius:
"Carinus has laid aside the purple in favor of his brother Numerian."
Mesembrius sometimes heard so well that he caught the faintest murmur.
"What did you say?" he eagerly exclaimed. "Carinus has abdicated, and
Numerian will be Imperator? Huzza! Huzza!"
"Do you know Numerian? What kind of a man is he?" asked the courtiers
anxiously.
"What kind of a man? He is a hero, a Roman, under whose rule Rome's
golden age will begin again and the sun of fame will again shine upon
us. The glorious battles which Rome fought against half the world
Numerian will continue. We will all share them. A new and radiant
epoch is dawning. I will swing myself upon my charger and be where
every man of honour must appear. I am not yet too old to die in
battle!"
The old man, frantic with joy, was gesticulating enthusiastically,
without thinking of his crutches, and recognised an acquaintance
coming from the direction of the Capitol at a distance of a hundred
paces. This was Quaterquartus, the augur.
"You are from the Capitol, Quaterquartus? Well! Well! What is the
news?"
"What I predicted," replied the augur with dignity. "The Senate would
not accept the abdication, and compelled the immortal Carinus to
continue to wear the purple."
Mesembrius was obliged to lean on his crutches again.
"Oh, my poor feet! Oh, this terrible gout in my knees! Foolish old man
that I am; what have I been saying? I swing myself on a horse? If I
could at least sit comfortably in my wheel-chair! Such a foolish old
fellow! How could I go to war when I see so badly that I cannot
distinguish friend from foe? Laugh at me, my dear friends; laugh at
such a silly old man. Oh, my feet----"
And, groaning painfully, he dragged himself forward. Then Manlius met
him.
"Have you learned anything?" he asked.
"To-morrow I will force myself into Carinus's presence. And you?"
"I will seek Glyceria."
"That you may kill her ere she can speak."
"Have no anxiety. Even if she could use magic arts, she would die. We
will meet in Carinus's atrium to-morrow. Be provided with a good
sword."
* * * * *
Manlius went to the _Pons Sacer_.
Before the statue of Triton sat the old woman who had given him the
ring. When she saw Manlius she rose and went to meet him.
"Have you the ring with you, my lord?" she asked.
"Look at it."
"Will you go with me?"
"That is the purpose of my coming here."
"I have waited for you four days. Why did you not appear sooner?"
"Pleasure never comes too late," replied Manlius bitterly, and allowed
himself to be conducted through gardens, byways, and covered passages
till his guide opened a small bronze gate, and taking him by the
hand, led him through a dark corridor into a circular hall, adorned
with pillars and lighted by a single round window above.
Here the old woman left him and went to summon her mistress.
Manlius looked around him. He had imagined the apartment of a Roman
lady an entirely different room. He had expected to see jasper
columns, garlanded with climbing plants, fountains perfumed with rose
water, representations of frivolous love scenes, an atmosphere
saturated with heavy fragrance, purple couches, and silver mirrors,
and instead he found himself in a lofty, noble, temple-like hall,
whose walls were adorned with masterly pictures of battles and heroes,
while in the centre stood the marble bust of a bald-headed old man.
"Perhaps Glyceria does not even live here," he thought, and just at
that moment heard his name uttered behind him. He turned. Before him
stood a pale, slender woman, in a simple snow-white robe, whose folds
concealed her figure up to her chin and covered her arms to the
wrists. This was not the alluring costume that suited a love
adventure. The face was still less seductive. Deep, despairing,
consuming grief, that blight of beauty, was expressed in every
feature.
Manlius recognised Glyceria. His blood rushed feverishly to his
temples, and he convulsively clutched the hilt of his sword. Yet he
did not wish to kill her thus. He thought that this, too, was only a
new variety of the arts of temptation in which women are such adepts.
When a libertine is to be attracted, the graces are called to aid; if
it is a hero, Minerva must be summoned to help. Clothes, moods, will
correspond with the character of the chosen individual; nay, even the
features will be altered so that they will appear different to every
one. He could not kill her while she looked so sad; he must await the
moment when she began to speak to him of her love to thrust his sword
into her heart at the first yearning smile.
Pausing with drooping head, three paces from Manlius, the lady
faltered almost too low for him to hear:
"You have come late. Very late."
Manlius, with suppressed fury, answered:
"Is love a fruit that becomes overripe if it waits long?"
Glyceria looked at Manlius in horror.
"What is the matter with you that you speak to me of love?"
"Did you not summon me that we might whisper together of rapture,
bliss, and sweet delights?"
"Once your words would have given me pleasure; now horror seizes me
when you speak in this way."
"Are you not convinced that your beauty has such magic power that
every man who beholds you forgets every woman he has ever seen?"
replied Manlius, half drawing his sword from its sheath.
Glyceria looked into the youth's face as though she were gazing into
impenetrable darkness, and asked:
"Even the one who is lying dead at this moment?"
Manlius started back, his breath failed, his face grew corpselike in
its pallor. He strove to pronounce Sophronia's name, but his lips
would not form the word, and staggering back, he was obliged to lean
against a pillar.
Glyceria went toward him, her staring eyes fixed upon his face as if
she wished to read his inmost soul.
"Manlius Sinister!" she said calmly. "My dreams have told me that you
will kill me, and I know that the hand beneath your chlamys is
clutching your sword-hilt. That will be no grief to me. My anguish is
that you see in me your promised wife's murderess."
Manlius sighed heavily, and a secret shudder shook his whole frame. In
a voice that seemed to come from the grave, he asked:
"How was she killed? Was she torn by wild beasts? Or did greedy flames
devour her tender body? Speak, Hetaera. Tell me clearly and minutely
how she was tortured to death. I _will_ hear."
"She was not dragged to the scenes of torture, but to Carinus'
orgies."
"Ah!" shrieked Manlius in unutterable fury, covering his face. Then,
removing his hands, he said quietly: "Go on; omit nothing. Describe
step by step the outrage, and in what way my idol was dragged through
the mire. Speak!"
"Nothing of that kind happened. A Roman woman, who wished to rescue
her, exchanged garments with her in the prison; and when this plan was
baffled, she concealed a dagger in Sophronia's girdle and the girl
killed herself before any man's hand touched her."
Tears streamed from the young soldier's eyes; his sword fell from his
hand.
"Ye gods, bless that Roman woman for the sake of the dagger. Do you
not know who it was?"
"She does not wish you to be told."
Manlius drew a long breath, as if relieved from a heavy burden.
"I thank you for these tidings."
There was something terrible in this gratitude.
"The danger is not yet over," Glyceria began again. "Carinus, whose
pallid face was sprinkled with the martyr's blood, sank back upon his
couch half fainting, and through his trembling soul flashed the
thought: If a woman could die in this way, how will her father or her
promised husband--kill! No one knew Sophronia; but my father's
presence in Rome has already attracted attention, and although he
makes no public search, people are beginning to suspect that the dead
girl was his daughter. You will both be summoned before Carinus
to-morrow; he will ask if you can recognise a dead woman who was found
murdered in the Christians' prison, and Sophronia will be shown to
you. Be hard-hearted at that moment, Manlius; let no tears fill your
eyes when you behold this corpse. Say that you do not know it, wear an
indifferent face; for if you betray yourself, you will lose your
head."
"I am to wear an indifferent face," said Manlius, with dilated eyes,
"and not recognise her when she lies dead before me? I am to say that
I have never seen her?"
"Do you imagine that Carinus would suffer a man to live whose promised
wife had killed herself on the Caesar's account?"
"You are right," said the knight, bitterly. "Manlius will learn to
dissimulate."
He burst into a terrible laugh.
Glyceria sank on her knees before him, and offering him her beautiful
bosom, stammered, sighing:
"And now--take your sword--begin with me."
Manlius smiled.
"So your dreams have predicted that I shall kill you? You are
beautiful, Glyceria; really marvellously beautiful. Is it true, as
people say, that Carinus loves you ardently?"
"Still more ardently do I hate him. Why do you ask?"
"Because I should like to know whether you have ever rendered Carinus
happy by your favour?"
"Never even with a smile."
"And yet he would gladly give years of his life for a single night
with you."
"Ah, by Styx! If I should grant him a night, it would be an eternal
one!" cried Glyceria, drawing herself to her full height while her
face crimsoned.
Manlius went up to her and clasped her hand.
"Now you see, Glyceria, that your dreams deceived you, for I shall not
kill you. No, I shall not kill you, but will make you my wife."
Glyceria drew back her hand in horror.
"Manlius, this is mockery, and bitterer than death."
"No, it is only love. I love you."
"Manlius, do not kill me thus, not thus. Rather with the sharp sword."
"I love you. If I loved your sister, I now see her features in your
face; and when grief for her loss tortures me, I must fly to you to
find consolation. I do not believe aught of all the world says of you;
I will take the past from you and make you what your sister has been.
I will lead you back to your father, and he will bestow upon you the
blessing he gave your sister. I will endow you with everything that
was her property. You will wear her simple garments and even assume
her name, and I will call you my Sophronia."
Glyceria, trembling violently, escaped from the youth's arms as he
drew her toward him with gentle violence, and with glowing cheeks and
panting bosom, fled without answering these bewildering words.
Manlius, looking after her, muttered under his breath:
"Cannot I play the hypocrite too?"