active 1886-1887 John W. Graham

“ Martialis watched him anxiously.
‘It is strange that you, a man of noble blood, should stoop to a girl of a base artisan,’ said Tiberius. ‘Do you say you are betrothed, and meant to marry her?’
‘I did,’ replied the other, with a little sternness; ‘you have already passed your word for her safety, and that is sufficient assurance: but I have reason to believe, Caesar, that she is not the potter’s child.’
‘I have already heard that—it requires proof, however—give it me,’ said Tiberius, with an incredulous smile curling his lip. ”

“ It is certain to be a man. Have you no suspicion?’
He could hear the grate of her teeth as she breathed heavily and rapidly through her nostrils.
‘Suspicion!’ she cried, after some inarticulate sounds. ‘How am I to know? A lie—it is for any one—what is easier? A scullion—Caesar—any one can make a lie! It is another matter to discover it—the coward!’
‘Who?’ demanded Afer, starting at the fierce intensity of the epithet.
‘The coward—the liar, whoever he may be.’
‘Humph, that is true; if we could only find him out.’
He looked at her with a sidelong glance. ”

“ But, until the time is ripe to act, potter, you must keep all this secret. Not a word to the child, or to your wife, until fit time.’
‘I will not,’ answered Masthlion.
‘Swear it, kinsman, for we may have to wait long yet.’
‘I never broke my word,’ said Masthlion proudly.
‘Enough; then I will trust to you,’ said Cestus. ‘Roll up those traps and keep them safe; and, on your life, breathe not a word to a living soul. Good-night!’
Cestus departed to his pallet bed upstairs, but Masthlion remained sitting before the fire for a long time in deep reflection. ”

“ Would I were standing in my porch on the Esquiline!’
‘What, exchange this pure air, this fair isle, its peace and repose, for the smells, and smoke, and roars of that seething cauldron Rome! Tush, you have twice as much colour in your cheeks, and twice as much sparkle in your eye, as when we left it. You are hard to please. Turn philosopher or poet—anything to pass the time. You never hear me repine.’
‘Ah no, but I am not in the lucky position in which you are, Prefect; I have no betrothed bride to bid time fly like the wind,’ answered Afer sarcastically. ”

“ More than once, despair urged him to force his way into the presence of the tyrant himself and demand his freedom, or to boldly pass the outer gate and gain the fishermen’s boats. But the madness of such an act was evident even to his own wild thoughts. At every outlet a guard was lolling lazily on his spear, his gilded panoply shining in the sun. One shadowy hope there was, that Cestus might have persuaded Neæra to proceed to Rome. But that was hoping against hope: the unhappy potter knew in his heart she would never consent. ”

“ From the ghastly visage of Caesar his gaze rested on the warm loveliness of Plautia, whose flushed countenance and sparkling eyes betrayed the excited conflict of her mind. Her yet unconquered love of the young soldier’s manly beauty, blown into fresh flame by the exhibition of his power—the sting of remorse at the unlooked-for effect of her plot, mingled with savage envy at the sight of her rival, and the bitter spectacle of their mutual devotion, were rioting in her breast. His glance was cold and contemptuous, as it was passing and brief, and stung her soul to madness. ”

“ Is this folly still so strong within you? How came you here in the name of the gods? and in what does this wench concern you? Do you thus accost every girl you see? She is nothing but a potter’s girl of Surrentum.’
‘Stay, Fabricius, you are hasty,’ spoke Tiberius; ‘let us hear what these people have to say.’
Recalled to himself, Fabricius, with his eyes yet fixed on Neæra, stepped back to a place beside Thrasullus, without deigning his nephew a look or a word. Afer’s brows met with an angry scowl, and he abruptly folded his arms across his breast, whilst muttering some hasty wrathful words. ”

“ Every tiny leaf that nestled to the ground was the peering eye of an Argus. Little or nothing could hope to pass unnoticed within the narrow circuit of those sea-girt rocks. There was an ear for each saying worth repeating, an eye for each movement worth noting, and all finally flowed into the channel which led to the dark, deep mind of Caesar. To the ready ear of the ambitious, plotting Prefect also, in his villa of Mercury, perched on the conical hill overlooking the Marina, the mysterious whisperings and rumours of the isle did not fail to float. ”

“ To have remained wholly indifferent to such a passionate revelation of the loveliest lips—to have rested unmoved by the soft contact and surrender of the richest wealth of female beauty Rome could show, would have been to renounce all in common with human nature, even on the part of one bred with the phlegmatic coldness and self-possession of a northern clime. But Plautia had cast herself before one born to the same native characteristics of ardent and impulsive blood as herself, though not perhaps in an equal degree of intensity. ”

“ Close on his heels rushed the terror-stricken Pretorian on guard, and Plautus, on his part, made a savage gesture of retaliation. Both, however, had the discretion to hesitate before the fiery glance of the Centurion and a still more significant motion of his right hand to his belt.
‘Courage, my Neæra,’ murmured her lover; ‘I know all, and have followed to save thee from these pitiless wretches, whose foul touch is worse than death. Only one escape from dishonour is left to thee now, dear love.’
He drew his poniard from his belt and placed it in her hand. ”

“ On Plautia, at times, he bestowed an ironical smile, the spirit of which she defined, and resented inwardly. Atticus, Flaccus, and Marinus, three devoted personal friends of the Emperor, drank their wine, gazed their fill at the superb woman, listened to her lively wit, and gave back what they could of their own, in an excited ecstasy and jauntiness of foolish middle-age. The night waxed, and the faces of the waiting slaves grew weary. But the wine still splashed into the gold goblet of Caesar, and his eyes scarce moved from the girl before him. ”

“ I told her so,’ said Cestus.
‘The memory of a liar should always be good,’ cried Afer; ‘this vagabond’s memory is only equalled by his lies—they are all of a prodigious nature. Yet I doubt if they are as monstrous as the credulity which sucks them in.’
‘What more remains to ask these people, Fabricius? Question them if you will,’ said Tiberius.
‘I have nothing to add to what your highness has ably said,’ replied Fabricius, rising from his seat. ”

“ Nevertheless I can wish you happiness; fortune, without doubt, you already possess, so there is no need to wish you that.’
‘I thank you!’ said Martialis coldly.
‘And you! I remember you being stouter in body and whiter in face. Whence have you come?’ inquired Masthlion.
‘It is a long story, kinsman, and I will tell you at leisure,’ replied Cestus; ‘enough for the present to tell you I have been at death’s door, and have come to gain back my strength in the pure air of Surrentum. ”

“ His extreme disgust and disappointment found its customary relief in a furious spasm of frightful language, all the fiercer in that he was obliged to suppress it, because of neighbours sprinkled here and there nigh at hand in their little plots of garden ground. When he looked again for Neæra she had disappeared. He followed into the house with a visage dark and sullen as a thundercloud. The first to meet him was Neæra herself; a strange contrast, inasmuch as joy sparkled in her eyes and bloomed on her cheeks. It was testimony enough to the glance of Cestus. ”

“ Am I less a woman now than before? I have bared my heart to thee, Martialis, but it is still a woman’s, and it has never bent to any sway but yours.’
Could the young soldier’s senses have been more subtly stirred had he been a mariner of old, rousing himself in his idly-floating boat to listen to the fatal, sweet ditties of a siren song stealing into his ears through the tranquil, yellow mist of evening? ”

“ A thousand fears and forebodings tore his mind, whilst nervous dread and hate shook him till his frame quivered like a leaf. With his faculties at their utmost stretch he watched and listened for what should follow.
After a close scrutiny, as if to assure himself, Afer entered the shop, and Cestus observed, with satisfaction, that the lynx-eyed Erotion remained in the roadway. The further the Greek was away the freer he breathed, for he knew his profound subtlety of old. ”

“ The eyes of Torquatus, Flaccus, and Pansa kindled. Sejanus still sat motionless, with a cloud resting on his pale, immobile face. The sad brooding eyes of Martialis showed no change.
‘That is my father’s cup,’ continued Apicius; ‘Martialis, thou wilt preserve it—it is too rich for my future needs of simplicity. I will drink to the future welfare of you all. May the gods send you plentiful pastures of liberal purses and groaning tables; and may ye die the death of noble, virtuous, uncovetous men. ”

“ A yell of delirious excitement and triumph rang from the lips of Martialis, and he glanced round, like a tiger at bay, as if for the next victim. But nature has its limits, and the last supreme effort, added to the extraordinary exertion and excitement of the day, had begun to tell even on his frame of iron. As he drew himself back and clenched his hands for a desperate dash, his eyes seem to fill with blood—lights, faces, forms mingled in one confused gleam before him. The exultant shouts of the soldiers, unrepressed by the presence of Caesar, filled his ears like a muffled roar. ”

“ We will seek you out—I, at least,’ interrupted the voice of Martialis next to him.
‘Thou shalt learn ere very long, my Caius. Which among you does not, at certain times, if not constantly, wish for the tranquillity of the rustic, whose music is the whisper of the groves, the rippling of the stream, and the notes of the birds? Eating simply, sleeping soundly, rising cheerfully. Contented with what the gods have given him—the summer sun, the pure air, the green pastures, sweet water and the vine-clad slope; a heart unvexed by ambitions, envyings, ingratitudes. ”

“ Seek him, and bring him hither back with thee, that I may tell him what I did, for my mind torments me more than my crushed body. He had a granddaughter, a little child—a little goddess; I can tell him of that child—bid him come with haste! Fourteen years ago I stole her from his door and sold her. She yet lives—a slave!”’
In spite of himself; in spite of the numberless plausible tales and previous disappointments, Fabricius felt his heart beat violently, and a tremor seize his limbs. Cestus’s small keen eyes noted the change of colour on his cheek. ”

“ If Caesar were as good as his word, he would be breathing the pure air of heaven in a few hours. The thought filled him with the glowing warmth and comfort of wine. On Cestus everything depended. Had he left for Rome? Should he meet him at the house of Fabricius? Had he the proofs, as he asserted, and would they be conclusive and satisfactory to the old man? Was she really anything but the simple girl he had always known her? The potter’s wife said she never had a child of her own. Her beauty seemed never to spring from such lowly parents. ”

“ His kindling eyes had begun to sparkle and blaze like a basilisk’s. The swift-witted damsel seized the moment, and, with the briefest delay, left the table and the room.
The rich jewel which had set the ring was gone. The flame in the Emperor’s eyes lacked its fuel, and quickly sank like the chilling embers of fire. His gaze became a vacant stare, and then swiftly relapsed into the glassy stupidity of intoxication: but all in complete silence. The remaining six men, after a parting cup, took their leave of their Imperial host, who made no sign in response. ”

“ Martialis dashed aside the innermost drapery and halted for a brief second, whilst he cast a flashing glance around the brilliant chamber. Yes, there was Neæra standing in the midst, on exactly the same spot where her ill-fated fosterfather had stood before, a target for each rude, pitiless gaze of master and slave alike. She was drawn to the full height of her tall, supple figure, and her noble face, as pale as death, was bent undauntedly on the opposing visage of Tiberius. ”

“ Caius Martialis, the Centurion’s brother, is well known for his perfect knowledge of the elegant arts and pleasures of life. No one disputes his dictum as to the beauty of a woman, or the flavour of a dish, or the fold of a garment—especially feminine,—or the business of the bath, the action of a player, the knowledge of the midnight city—the whole delicate art, in fact, of sustaining a continuous and uniform course of pleasure, without rushing into undue excess, or relapsing into ennui. ”

“ When she reached the middle of the dusky orchard which flanked the dwelling of Tucca, she stopped short, with her head cast down, as if struck by a sudden thought. It may have been a cruelly acute flash of reflection piercing her pain-drowsied mind with spasmodic rigour, for, the next moment she sank on her knees with a smothered groan, and thence on to her face, with her arms outstretched and her hand clutching the turf. Here, in the solitude and silence of the night, the most dread hour for unhappy thoughts, she lay prone and helpless in the very lap of mental torture. ”

“ He told us you were an orphan—a poor man’s child—without kith or kin. Now he has come to claim you. Your grandfather is here now in this great house. He is neither poor nor mean. He is a great and wealthy nobleman, and you a great lady. Alas, we did not know—Cestus has done a wicked thing; but idle and evil he ever was from a boy in our father’s cottage.’
Neæra sat silent and motionless, listening as in a dream. The blood surged like a fiery flood through her veins, and then fled back as suddenly, leaving her cold and pale as death. ”

“ And thou art his son—thou, that didst save his old playfellow’s life—how my heart warms to thee! I warrant thou art the living image of him, though I never saw him in his manhood. But his boyish frame shaped like thine—tall, spare, sinewy, and as strong as a young lion: and what of him, Centurion; is he alive yet—tell me?’
‘Dead these ten years,’ replied Martialis.
‘Then I was not fated to see him again on this earth. We loved each other as playfellows; but I shall not be long after him. I am a lonely old man, who has outlived his time ”

“ You only bind me the faster to you. Your joint wisdom is vain against my conviction. What! are we to part because a weak, foolish fancy seizes you, that your speech and bearing are not like the artificial, superfine graces of the proud dames who loll away their lives in palaces? Gods forbid! Why, there are those of your sex in Rome—ay, even in Surrentum, who would deem me as the dust beneath their feet.’
‘And there are others, also, whom you would look upon in the same fashion,’ replied the girl. ”