Part 45 (2/2)
”Very clever,” he finally said ” ”Yes It would be an answer to the proble this is the answer you seek,” I said ” ”You should look into your heart and one too far I should have asked that question privately But it needed to be answered now, so that Antony and Lepidus could be assigned their parts
”Well,” he said, ”I a in Roht the distinction--in Roree to the plan? Antony will offer you the crown and you will refuse it? Or Lepidus?” Roree to the plan? Antony will offer you the crown and you will refuse it? Or Lepidus?”
”I will offer it,” said Antony ”I a and theatrics, whereas you, Lepidus, are less deht to be the one,” said Lepidus ”People would take it more seriously”
”No, it would be more believable as a spontaneous action if Antony did it,” said Caesar ”He is known for whims and outbursts, whereas you are much more of a planner We don't want people to think we planned it”
”The people are one thing,” said Antony ”But who do you think is in back of the other gestures? They were no more spontaneous than this one will be”
”I don't know,” said Caesar slowly ”Of course the diehard aristocrats, those known as the optiain all their lost power But which ones? I have tried to offer theovernment--I've made both Brutus and Cassius praetors, and other former followers of Poly reconciled--but I cannot read their ather around h, but when they , what do they say?”
”We should place spies a them!” said Antony
'Then I would truly be what they whisper--a tyrant A ruler with secret police, spies, and suspicion Nay, I would rather die at their hands than be what they iood spy systeood et where you come from, my little Ptolemy, my child of the Nile But it doesn't transplant well here”
A servant stole into the room to refill the lareen oil, with its pungent scent, into the lamps from a narrow-spouted pitcher Was this a spy? Had she been listening? How easy it was to becoht
We all waited silently until she was finished, then, after she left, burst into nervous laughter
”Then it is decided?” I finally spoke ”When is Lupercalia?”
”In fourteen days,” said Antony ”The fifteenth day of February Why, thestrips!” he said, as if just realizing it
”Not long, then,” said Lepidus ”Not long”
After Antony and Lepidus had left, stealing away into the cold darkness, Caesar hesitated He took a long ti the murals as if he had never seen the a shi+p and harbor, with a fantastic rocky promontory The waves of the harbor were tipped hitecaps, and the sails billowed
”Surely this vista is not new to you,” I said ”You ainst hiht
”Oh yes,” he said ”But it looks different tonight It depicts a world fresh and clean” He allowed his--of whispered runed eans Now I join theed demonstration” Before I could defend h to know it is a good plan You have enius, and I am ofttimes in awe of it You have much to teach me And you shall have the opportunity Soon”
”What is is it you keep alluding to?” I said ”Pray, disclose it toto?” I said ”Pray, disclose it to me”
”Not until after Lupercalia Then I will tell you the plan in its entirety First we htly, he turned to depart
”You enjoy keeping it froives you power over me”
”No,” he said ”Not over you, but over my enemies It is best for now that no one know but one out into the night, swirled into darkness
After he had gone, I climbed the steps to my chamber, my limbs weary It was so late; what upside-down hours plotters had to keep! I wondered who else ake in Ro? There was a fog in the air, and the waning moon, worn like a detachedthe tops of the pines Anyone leaving a dwelling noould have to ht
I listened outside Ptolemy's chamber He had fallen asleep, but I could hear an occasional feeble cough As soon as the seas were safe for sailing, ould have to leave Rome was very bad for his health
I enteredIt threw flickering shadows; it had exhausted its oil and was about to go out Caesarion still shared the cha serenely in his little bed with its ebony inlays depicting panthers and elephants I watched his face and felt, as always, that leap of joy and possession, as he was both er a baby but a child, running about on sturdy feet and beginning to speak--Latin It was his first tongue If we did not return soon, he would know Greek and Egyptian only as foreign languages
I knelt and brushed his hair, light and feathery My dear child, I thought May Isis always have you in her keeping
I disrobed and changed into arments It was too late to call Charmian to assist me I slid into place on the narrow couch-bed and pulled the wool blankets up around rearm under the covers
Cold Cold Roe that I have been here so long and it still feels alien It is not just the climate, but the way of life So constrained So watchful So rehearsed
Well, I told her circles of power Certainly the cos, but the opposite: explosive, indulgent, loud, and hungry All you have to do is watch theaht of the brown banks of the Nile and its palms, told me I was hoypt
I turned on ypt are ht Yes, I must leave I cannot fathom what plan Caesar has for us Clearly there is no place for overnment or appear publicly by Caesar's side
There is nothing for us, nothing for us I heard Caesarion give a cry as he chased a dream, and then he turned in his bed
Only this child, I thought, but he can have no place in Rome
February fifteenth, the day of the Lupercalia, was clear and frosty It was cold in the villa, but I knew that across the Tiber in the Roman streets the body heat of the croouldthe before dawn they lined the streets, war their oatoff tune with the streetout before late oat and dog, symbols of Pan and Lupercus, would not be over until then, and the priests, with their bloody strips, would not issue forth earlier But Ptoleood time, and we took our places on the steps of the Tenitaries of Rouarded area because the state treasury was kept there Out of the corner of my eye I saw some of the very people we had discussed earlier: returned exiled nized but could not name, and others I knew, like Brutus and the two Casca brothers and Trebonius and Tillius Cimber I s a little lower down
Below us the Foru cal his purple Triu around his head On each end of the platfor and duplicating hiyptian ba ba and and ka ka depictions in tombs, which are supposed to incorporate the difference essences of the soul, and thought how similar it was depictions in tombs, which are supposed to incorporate the difference essences of the soul, and thought how similar it was
A shout arose; the luperci luperci were on their way, running and prancing The crowd parted, and wild, half-nakedtheir bloody strips They darted about nimbly like Pan hihs haunches The women ducked and shrieked, but some bowed their bare shoulders to receive the bloere on their way, running and prancing The crowd parted, and wild, half-nakedtheir bloody strips They darted about nimbly like Pan hihs haunches The women ducked and shrieked, but some bowed their bare shoulders to receive the blows
There was Antony aoatskin loincloth, his shoulders and torso smeared with blood frolistened all over with sweat, but betrayed no other evidence of exertion
4A Consul of Ro pronouncement of disapproval from someone below me--Decimus? Trebonius?
”O ye Gods!” ht what a splendor there was about Antony that day--not only in his courage in appearing thus in public but also in his very physique itself, gloith health and strength, unasha the Rolory and beauty of it, and so they as could never respect the Greek exaltation of the hu the Rostra, now he detached hiraceful bound, onto the platform In his hand was clutched a royal white diadeot it? Had Lepidus, stationed nearby, handed it to hiraceful bound, onto the platform In his hand was clutched a royal white diadeot it? Had Lepidus, stationed nearby, handed it to him?
”Caesar!” he shouted ”I offer unto you this diade!”