Part 19

"It was not long before she realized how dangerous the intimacy might soon become between Aureus and Viola, and though she had no ill-will to the former, she was quite willing to sacrifice him if only by so doing she could also bring about the destruction of her mistress. To accomplish her ends she decided to worm her way into their affections. As she had seen much of life and no little of vice, she was able to interest the girl with many stories connected with the past. But she did not find it easy to get an opportunity to talk in private with the boy. Viola seldom allowed him to leave her, and was evidently jealous if he showed the least liking for any of the slave girls, more especially for the new beauty. Myra, however, was not to be easily defeated. She saw at once that the boy was as yet a child, and that to accomplish her end speedily it would be necessary for her to awaken some youthful passion in his heart, which should ultimately bring about the ruin of her rival.

"Taking, therefore, an opportunity when for once Viola unaccompanied had gone with her father to visit some neighbouring Roman nobles, she drew the boy aside and asked him to show her the surrounding country.

"'I have,' she said, 'not dared to go beyond the enclosure, fearing the wild beasts, but with you as companion I should not fear.'

"It was against the rules for any of the female slaves to go outside the boundary of the dwelling-place without permission, but Myra was at this time in favour, and no one left behind would have dared to interfere with her actions. She was known to be vindictive, and, having the ear of her master, would have had little difficulty in revenging an insult.

"So Aureus consented, and they wandered out into the forest, following the course of a small stream. At length they came to an opening in the trees where the sun shone pleasantly upon a bank of ferns. Here they sat and rested. At their feet was a deep pool in which the boy had often bathed; and Myra, as she reclined on the bank, dabbled her bare legs in the clear water to wash the dust from them.

"'Do you often come here with your mistress?' she asked. 'You seem always with her.'

"'When we were children,' the boy said, 'we often stole out here in the summer-time to bathe in the cool water. But we do not bathe here now.'

"'Why not?' his companion asked.

"The boy looked up into her face with a comical, innocent expression. 'I do not quite know,' he said. 'She is too old to bathe now, except in the bath; only slave girls bathe out of doors when they are grown up.'

"'So you think it does not matter what we do?' she said.

"'You are different from the others,' he answered. 'You wear a tunic, and not an ordinary dress.'

"'You call this a tunic, do you?' she said, pointing to the thin garment which partially concealed the full sensuous beauty of her limbs. 'This is not much of a robe, this summer thing. I might almost as well be without it.'

"'Do you feel cold?' he asked.

"'Feel me,' she said.

"The boy placed his hand upon her bare neck as she moved closer to him. 'You are quite hot,' he said, 'your skin almost burns me. But how soft and smooth it is! Tell me, why are women so much more beautiful than men?'

"'I don't think they are,' the girl answered. 'You, for instance, are more beautiful than Viola. Look at your arm;' and as she said this she laid her dark hand upon his shoulder. 'How fair you are by the side of any of us! Look at your hair;' and she ran her fingers through the bright soft waves of gold. 'Do you not think that it is more beautiful than our long dark tresses?'

"'No, I do not,' he said. 'Viola's hair is beautiful, and so is yours; far more beautiful than mine.'

"'There you are mistaken,' she said. 'You do not know. Come and look.'

"The two bent forward over the still clear water. It was a pretty picture which they saw reflected; the young boy's fair sun-tanned face surrounded with a bright halo of curls through which the sunlight played. The girl bending over him, her dark tresses, which she had unbound, falling over his shoulders and covering them both as with a cloud; her breast, which hitherto looked brown against the white of her tunic, now by contrast with the deep shade of her hair was reflected back with the brilliancy of ivory.

"'You are beautiful,' was all the boy said.

"'_We_ are beautiful,' the girl corrected. 'Do you think,' she continued, 'that I am as lovely as your mistress?'

"'Oh dear, no!' the boy replied, with uncomplimentary frankness. Then, feeling that he had angered her, he went on, 'You see it is different. She is so young, so delicate!' And saying this he looked again into the water, contrasting in his mind the tender budding grace of the maiden with the reflection of developed womanhood before him.

"Myra laughed; but though it was not her desire to win the boy from his devotion to Viola, there was beneath the laughter in her eyes an angry, jealous light.

"'Ah! my pretty infant,' she cried, 'when you are older you will grow wiser. So you love this little mistress of yours, do you?'

"'I worship her!' he said, slightly correcting the verb, and giving it, not only a fuller, but more chastened meaning.

"'What is the difference,' she asked, 'between love and worship?'

"'You tell me,' he said; 'I am not good at explaining, I only feel.'

"They had moved back from the water, and were now once more lying on the soft bank.

"'I don't think you know much about feeling, child,' she answered, 'and as for love, why you're a perfect baby! We begin by worshipping; we go on to loving; and we often end by hating!'

"'Then I don't want to get to loving,' he said, 'I like worshipping best, especially if love leads to hatred; but I don't believe it! I might, perhaps, hate you, Myra, but I never could hate Viola. However, tell me what love is, and I will tell you if I have ever loved.'

"'Have you ever kissed your mistress?' she asked.

"The boy looked surprised. 'The Roman nobles,' he answered, 'do not kiss their slaves.'

"The girl burst out laughing; this idea, from her point of view, was exceedingly comical, but she did not contradict him. 'I will tell you some stories about love,' she said.

"Myra, being a Roman slave girl, and having passed through some considerable experience of what she termed love, it would be unnecessary and unedifying to follow her further. Manners and customs change, and the refinement of thought and language, notwithstanding many an ebb and flow, has enlarged its borders. To describe therefore any such scene as this truthfully, would be not only undesirable, but misleading.

"When Aureus returned to the villa late that evening, though he may not have been intellectually much wiser, he had tasted of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and knew more of evil than formerly; but it is doubtful whether he or his teacher had any active consciousness of sin. They were little better than half-educated savages, and their training on the moral side had in one case been neglected, and in the other perverted.

"After Viola's return, she noticed a change in her fair slave. He was as devoted as ever, but less bright and natural in manner. When they were alone together he would sit watching her every movement The sensation of being thus watched made her angry and uncomfortable.

"On one such occasion she turned to him and said crossly, 'I shall sell you. You're getting too old and dull to be any amusement. What has come to you of late? Ah! it never struck me before. You're in love!'

"As she said this, the boy turned scarlet. She had guessed part of the truth, but not that he was in love with her.

"'Yes, I see it now--in love with that hateful slave Myra!' she continued, stamping her foot. 'I ought to have known! They told me that you and she had been out together in my absence. I'll teach her to go interfering with my slaves! I'll let her know who rules here!'

"And the girl, raging with passion, bade Aureus to follow, and hurried back to the villa. Going into one of the inner rooms, she told some of the maidens to fetch Myra, who came reluctantly at her summons. The slight girl, absolute mistress of those around, drew up her haughty little figure, when she saw the beautiful slave enter, and at once demanded by whose authority she had left the enclosure during her absence.

"This was too great a strain on Myra's temper, and relying on the favour shown by her master, she became insolent, even taunting her mistress with her illegitimate birth.

"'Who are you!' she cried, 'to rule over me! Daughter of a slave! Soon shall you be turned from your high position, and be servant of my children. Who made you better than the others, that you dare to give orders to me?'

"For a moment Viola stood speechless with anger, her face contracted with rage; then turning to those round her, she cried--

"'Bind her, the insolent brute! I'll teach her whether I am mistress or not!'

"The slave-girls were nothing loth to see their haughty companion humbled, for they were jealous of her beauty, and of the favour which had hitherto been shown to her. In a moment the wretched girl was seized, the grand tunic of which she had been so proud was taken from her, and her hands and feet tightly bound.

"'Now,' said Viola, 'bring the double-lashed whip.'

"When Myra heard this order, her pride vanished, and with tears and entreaties she began to cry to her mistress to spare her. But Viola only mocked at her terror.

"'Ah!' she cried, 'so the slave is beginning to recognize her mistress; and she shall do so with good reason before we let her go!' Then, turning to Aureus, she said, 'Take the whip, and let me see that you use it like a man, or by the gods I will have you lashed and sold in the public slave-market.'

"The boy, though he had often witnessed such scenes before, hesitated; he had never been called upon to hit a woman, and the thought was instinctively repugnant to him. On the other hand, he had never disobeyed his mistress, and her will was his law. He lifted the whip and let it fall gently upon the prostrate woman, who was bound down upon one of the raised stone seats. Then Viola came up to him, and grinding her teeth with anger, she seized his arm.

"'If you do not hit her,' she hissed, 'hit her so that the blood shall flow forth freely, I will kill you both! Brute!' she cried; 'you love her--you dare to love her!'

"Then the boy did as his mistress told him, and a great curse entered into his soul, for the brute nature was awakened, and he knew the delight of cruelty; for the sister fiend of lust, with her horrible fascination, took, for the time, possession of him as he watched the writhing body of his victim. But the young girl Viola stood by more damned than the slave who did her bidding, for a double curse fell upon her soul.

"On a lovely day towards the end of summer, Viola at last obtained her father's consent to ride with the huntsmen, and Aureus, who was a skilful horseman, was told off to be her attendant, and made responsible for her safety.

"It was late in the day before the wild beasts broke cover and the riders galloped over the plain in pursuit. The girl selected for her quarry a hart which had been slightly wounded by one of the archers, and soon she and her companion were urging their horses over the ground. They were both well mounted, but the animals at that date were ill fitted for speed, and there seemed little chance of their overtaking the stag unless his wound exhausted him. The girl, however, was far too excited to consider possibilities, and they soon left the other huntsmen far behind, the sound of the horns growing fainter and fainter.

"At last the hart came to a small wood, and disappeared among the undergrowth.

"'Had we not better return?' the boy asked. 'We shall find it no easy matter to follow him further.'

"But the girl had no mind to give up the chase. A few hounds had followed them, and she put them upon the track and began forcing her horse through the dense thicket. They had not far to go before once more the open country could be seen through the willow-stems, and after wading a small stream they came in sight of the stag who had just been driven from his place of concealment. The hounds, now also emerging from the stream, gave tongue joyfully at view of their prey.

"Once more the chase commenced. Forgetting time and place in the wild excitement, the two continued their solitary run accompanied by three slow but keen-scented hounds. Scrambling up the steep hills and wading the many streams which came in their path, they at last discovered their quarry, who had taken refuge in a deep pool. The boy and girl dismounted and rested for a moment to recover their breath.

"In the mean time the hounds plunged into the water; but powerful though they were on land, resembling as they did in appearance a cross between the modern bloodhound and boarhound, they were no match in the water against their horned antagonist. Aureus knew that, dangerous as was the undertaking to one not fully experienced, it would be necessary for him to go to their assistance. Placing, therefore, his knife between his teeth, and throwing off his garment, he plunged into the water and swam out to the spot where the unequal contest was raging. Waiting for a suitable moment when the attention of the stag was engaged, he approached it cautiously from behind, and taking the dagger from between his teeth, stabbed it to the heart.

"The girl, who was standing on the bank breathless with excitement, now that she saw the stag was dead, gave a cry of delight, and called to Aureus to push the body in front of him to the side of the pool so that she might help him to drag it from the water. She then called the reluctant hounds to her, and watched impatiently the accomplishment of the youth's difficult task.

"At length between them they managed to get the body on dry land, and at once set to work, after the manner of the time with which they were so familiar, to break up the body; the girl blowing her horn, and the boy presenting her with the head and antlers. Nor did they forget to reward the faithful hounds.

"They were reminded by the greed of these their followers that they also were hungry, and having lighted a fire--for no huntsman ever went forth without providing materials for this contingency--they were soon busy cooking some of the choicest morsels on slips of wood over hot charcoal. Then, like two young savages, they feasted, drinking from a neighbouring stream.

"It was now growing dusk, and if they hoped to return that night there was no time to spare. At first by following the marks of their horses' feet they had little difficulty in retracing their steps, but coming to a wide stretch of heath they lost the track, and while endeavouring in vain to find it, darkness settled down. As they were far from any landmark known to them, and were, moreover, shut in by the surrounding hills, they at last gave up the attempt in despair, and decided to make the best of the circumstances and spend the night in some sheltered spot.

"Having come to a suitable place they tied up their horses and crept together into a small hollow which was carpeted with bracken and roofed by sandstone rock. It was a mild night, but Viola, thinly clad as she was, felt the cold reaction which follows violent exercise, and nestled up closer and closer to her companion, who was far too accustomed to exposure to feel the least chilled by the night air. After a few moments of silence, the girl, raising herself a little, bent over and kissed the boy's lips.

"'There,' she said, 'that is a reward for your having been brave and killed the stag!'

"But the boy trembled at her touch; it was the first time she had ever kissed him; it was the kindling of a new and fatal change in their relationship: childhood had gone!"

"As may be imagined, Myra's bitterness against her mistress was strengthened rather than lessened by the cruel punishment. She made bitter complaint to her master, but without success; as, though he was vexed at what he considered an excessive punishment, he made it a point in no way to interfere with his daughter in matters of this kind. He knew too well that a divided rule would mean continued complaints; and, moreover, he thought his fair slave had lately been getting somewhat out of hand, and that a little check was desirable. So he only laughed, telling her that she must learn to be an obedient girl, and do what her mistress told her.

"But Myra's day of revenge was nearer than she expected, and she soon began to suspect the altered relationship between Viola and Aureus. She was therefore content to wait her time, and during this interval she feigned the most abject meekness and fawning servility to her young tyrant, avoiding at the same time all intercourse with the boy.

"Marius had been absent when these two returned home the morning after the hunt. It was usual in these days to continue the chase of fugitives as long as any chance of capture remained. Moreover, there was much work to be done in collecting the slain. Owing to this their absence caused no comment, the servants at the villa fancying that Viola had been with her father, while he was under the impression that the girl had returned with her prize on the evening of the previous day.

"Viola was now often allowed to join the hunting parties, and she and her boy lover were thrown more than ever together. It was a happy time for both of them, living as they did only for the pleasure of the moment, and disregarding all thought of the future. They were too young and reckless either to know or consider the consequences of their present folly. But nature moves in her own way, following her own laws, whether her children regard them or not. She has her own ends to fulfil, and is utterly callous of conventional restrictions; to her there is neither king nor slave, neither queen nor serving-maid, but only male and female, and she treats all alike, without respect of persons or regard to social convenience. It is her children's fault, not hers, if things turn out disastrously; if men make restrictions for themselves which have no part in her plan of action and impose laws which interfere with her wider and more impartial scheme.

"The winter came and went, and many of the same spring flowers which now make our lanes so beautiful at this time of the year, carpeted the open glades of the forest, and bordered the pure untainted streams. The delicate lacework of drooping ferns was reflected in the still pools, then stocked with fish as yet unacquainted with guile; the May-fly required no second inspection, but might be devoured recklessly without fear of fatal results, while the wriggling worm which strayed too near the bank, and turned over gently into the water, had not the chances of escape which he now enjoys. No committee of taste would then lie round to study his movements for fear that a dangerous hook might be concealed somewhere in his body.

"It was on a lovely evening shortly after the cuckoo's note had become once more a familiar sound, that Viola and Aureus, returning from a ramble in the wood, were met a few yards from the enclosure by Marius. As the girl glanced up at her father, she was suddenly overwhelmed with terror. She had seen anger often on his face before, but never when he had looked at her, and never such deep anger as this. What was the meaning of it?

"With a haughty word he dismissed the slave, and telling his daughter to follow, went on toward the forest. For some time the silence was only broken by the sound of their footsteps, and the sweet singing of the birds. At last the man stopped, and turning round, looked fixedly at his daughter for a moment. Then, with a deep-drawn sob, half of anger and half of pain, he cried--

"'So it is true! This which they have told me, and which I might have seen with my own eyes. My daughter, whom I have loved and honoured, has demeaned herself even to the level of a slave--has become one of the vile! You know your fate--the fate of the wanton. Even though I have loved you, this past love shall not save you. Were you not my own child I would even now sell you in the slave-market, that you might follow the vile calling you have chosen. As it is, you shall die!'

"When Viola heard this she fell upon her knees before her father, and with tears implored him to spare her life. Then, in her terror, a thought crossed her mind. She might yet save herself by a lie. To hide her guilt she knew would be impossible, but she might throw all the blame upon another, and so save herself.

"Between sobs and lamentations she said--'Even though you kill me, yet am I innocent of evil. How could I know, who am but a child, of the wickedness of men? I went out to hunt in the forest, and the stag led me far from home, and when we slew it the darkness of night was falling, and there was none near save the slave whom you gave me as a servant. And behold, when we strove to return home, we could not find our way; and as we wandered helpless into the thick places of the forest, night came on.' Then Viola, having thrown all the blame upon Aureus, finished her story in these words--'Knowing not the harm that would follow, I hid this thing in my heart; and though he, my destroyer, has since been hateful to me, yet dared I not show it lest the evil which had happened might be suspected by any.'

"Then the father, willing if possible to save his child, was moved by her words and tears, though still unconvinced of her innocence. And he said--

"'I will prove and see if these things be even as you say.'

"So they returned together to the house, and he led his daughter into an inner room, and commanded his servants to bring Aureus bound before him. Then having dismissed the slaves, he repeated to the boy the story which his daughter had told; and when he had done this, he said--

"'If this be true, then shalt thou be crucified in the sight of all the people; but if thou canst prove that this was no act of violence, I will sell thee as a slave, and the girl shall die!'

"The boy looked upon the pleading and terrified face of the one he loved, and lifting up his head, swore by the gods, saying--

"'It is true even as thy daughter has said. I, and only I, am to blame.'

"Then the father turned to the girl and said--'And you hate him even as you said?'

"And she, simulating anger, answered--'I hate him--I hate him!'

"But Marius, still doubting, replied, so that he might try her further--'Thou shalt this night then have thy revenge, even before the sun shall set.'

"Then he ordered that a cross of wood should be made ready. When it was prepared and laid upon the ground, he commanded his daughter to come, and the boy was brought forth and laid upon the cross. But when one of the servants was about to take a nail and with the heavy hammer drive it into the boy's hand, Marius stayed him, saying--

"'She, who has thus been wronged, shall with her own hand take vengeance.' Then he said to the girl who was standing by his side--'Go!' And in a low voice he whispered, 'Then shall I know the truth!'

"And Viola, though faint with terror and anguish, dare not hesitate, for she knew that her refusal would be treated as a sign of guilt. So with trembling hands she nailed the lover who died to save her to the cross, and his blood stained her fingers and the white robe she wore.

"Then, even as the sun was setting, they lifted the cross on high, and the glow of the evening light fell softly upon the boy's head.

"When Viola went to her room that night, she could not sleep. The thought of her lover still suffering the tortures of his slow death was too horrible. She could no longer bear the anguish of remorse and self-contempt.