Part 12 (2/2)

”Then if that be the case,” broke in young Hortensius Martius suddenly, ”let us turn to the one member of the House of Caesar who is n.o.ble and pure, exalted above all.”

”There is none such,” said Caius Nepos hotly.

”Aye! there is one,” retorted the younger man.

”His name?” came loudly from every side.

”I spoke of a woman.”

”A woman!”

And shouts of derisive laughter broke from every lip. Only Marcus Ancyrus remained grave and thoughtful, and now he said:

”Dost perchance speak of Dea Flavia Augusta?”

”Even of her,” replied Hortensius.

Involuntarily at the name, the voice of the older man had a.s.sumed a respectful tone, and all around the vulgar sneers and bitter mockery had died away as if by magic contact with something hallowed and pure.

Even Caius Nepos thought it wise to subdue his tone of contempt, and merely said curtly:

”A G.o.ddess of a truth, but a woman cannot lead an army or rule an empire.”

”No,” rejoined Hortensius Martius, ”but a wise and virtuous woman can rule wisely and virtuously over the man whom she will choose for mate.”

There was silence for a moment or two, whilst young Hortensius' glowing eyes swept questioningly over the a.s.sembly. Everyone there knew of his pa.s.sion for the Augusta, a pa.s.sion, in truth, shared by many of those who had the privilege of knowing her intimately, and strangely enough though the proposal had so much daring in it, it met with but little opposition.

”Wouldst thou then suggest, O Hortensius Martius,” quoth Marcus Ancyrus, the elder, after a slight pause, ”that the Augusta's husband be made Emperor of Rome?”

”Why not?” retorted the other simply.

”It is not a bad notion,” mused young Escanes, who thought himself high in the favour of Dea Flavia.

”An admirable one,” a.s.sented Ancyrus, ”for we must remember that Dea Flavia Augusta is of the true blood of the Caesars--the blood of the great Augustus--and there is none better. Since she, as a woman, cannot rule men or lead an army, what more fitting than that her lord, whoever he might be, should receive the imperium through her hands?”

”He might prove to be a more miserable creature than the Caligula himself,” suggested Philario, who was too ill-favoured to have hopes of winning the proud and imperious beauty for himself.

”Nay! that were impossible,” a.s.serted Hortensius hotly; ”the man whom Dea Flavia will favour will be a brave man else he would not dare to woo her; he will be honourable and n.o.ble else he could never win her.”

”Methinks that thou art right, O Hortensius,” added Ancyrus, who had taken upon himself the role of a wise and prudent counsellor, ”and moreover he will be rich by virtue of the wealth which the Augusta will have as her marriage portion; her money, merged with the State funds, would be of vast benefit to the land.”

”And on his death his son and hers--a direct descendant of great Augustus--would be the only fitting heir,” concluded another.

”Meseems,” now said Ancyrus decisively, ”that we would solve a grave difficulty by accepting the suggestion made by Hortensius Martius. The imperium--as is only just--would remain in the family of the great Augustus. We should have a brave, n.o.ble and rich Caesar whose virtuous and beautiful wife would wield beneficial influence over him, and for the present we should all be working for unselfish ends; not one of us here present can say for a certainty whom the Augusta will choose for mate. Directly the tyrant is swept out of the way, we, who have brought about the great end, will ask her to make her choice. Thus our aims will have been pure and selfless; each one of us here will have risked all for the sake of an unknown. What say you friends? Shall we pledge our loyalty to the man whom not one of us here can name this day--a man mayhap still unknown to us: the future lord of Dea Flavia Augusta of the House of Caesar?”

The peroration seemed greatly to the liking of the a.s.sembled company: the thought that they would all be working with pure and selfless motives flattered these men's egregious vanity; vaguely every one of them hoped that all the others would believe in his unselfish aims, even whilst everyone meant to work solely for his own ends. Hortensius Martius' proposal pleased because it opened out such magnificent possibilities: the imperium itself, which had seemed infinitely remote from so many, now appeared within reach of all.

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