_ WHILE walking with Lygia through the garden, Vinicius described
briefly, in words from the depth of his heart, that which a short
time before he had confessed to the Apostles, -- that is, the alarm
of his soul, the changes which had taken place in him, and, finally,
that immense yearning which had veiled life from him, beginning
with the hour when he left Miriam's dwelling. He confessed to
Lygia that he had tried to forget her, but was not able. He thought
whole days and nights of her. That little cross of boxwood twigs
which she had left reminded him of her, -- that cross, which he had
placed in the lararium and revered involuntarily as something
divine. And he yearned more and more every moment, for love
was stronger than he, and had seized his soul altogether, even
when he was at the house of Aulus. The Parcae weave the thread
of life for others; but love, yearning, and melancholy had woven it
for him. His acts had been evil, but they had their origin in love.
He had loved her when she was in the house of Aulus, when she
was on the Palatine, when he saw her in Ostrianum listening to
Peter's words, when he went with Croton to carry her away, when
she watched at his bedside, and when she deserted him. Then came
Chilo, who discovered her dwelling, and advised him to seize her a
second time; but he chose to punish Chilo, and go to the Apostles
to ask for truth and for her. And blessed be that moment in which
such a thought came to his head, for now he is at her side, and she
will not flee from him, as the last time she fled from the house of
Miriam.
"I did not flee from thee," said Lygia. "Then why didst thou go?"
She raised her iris-colored eyes to him, and, bending her blushing
face, said,-- "Thou knowest --"
Vinicius was silent for a moment from excess of happiness, and
began again to speak, as his eyes were opened gradually to this, --
that she was different utterly from Roman women, and resembled
Pomponia alone. Besides, he could not explain this to her clearly,
for he could not define his feeling, -- that beauty of a new kind
altogether was coming to the world in her, such beauty as had not
been in it thus far; beauty which is not merely a statue, but a spirit.
He told her something, howcver, which filled her with delight, --
that he loved her just because she had fled from him, and that she
would be sacred to him at his hearth. Then, seizing her hand, he
could not continue; he merely gazed on her with rapture as on his
life's happiness which he had won, and repeated her name, as if to
assure himself that he had found her and was near her.
"Oh, Lygia, Lygia!"
At last he inquired what had taken place in her mind, and she
confessed that she had loved him while in the house of Aulus, and
that if he had taken her back to them from the Palatine she would
have told them of her love and tried to soften their anger against
him.
"I swear to thee," said Vinicius, "that it had not even risen in my
mind to take thee from Aulus. Petronius will tell thee sometime
that I told him then how I loved and wished to marry thee. 'Let her
anoint my door with wolf fat, and let her sit at my hearth,' said I to
him. But he ridiculed me, and gave Caesar the idea of demanding
thee as a hostage and giving thee to me. How often in my sorrow
have I cursed him; but perhaps fate ordained thus, for otherwise I
should not have known the Christians, and should not have
understood thee."
"Believe me, Marcus," replied Lygia, "it was Christ who led thee to
Himself by design."
Vinicius raised his head with a certain astonishment.
"True," answered he, with animation. "Everything fixed itself so
marvellously that in seeking thee I met the Christians. In
Ostrianum I listened to the Apostle with wonder, for I had never
heard such words. And there thou didst pray for me?"
"I did," answered Lygia.
They passed near the summer-house covered with thick ivy, and
approached the place where Ursus, after stifling Croton, threw
himself upon Vinicius.
"Here," said the young man, "I should have perished but for thee."
"Do not mention that," answered Lygia, "and do not speak of it to
Ursus."
"Could I be revenged on him for defending thee? Had he been a
slave, I should have given him freedom straightway."
"Had he been a slave, Aiilus would have freed him long ago."
"Dost thou remember," asked Vinicius, "that I wished to take thee
back to Aulus, but the answer was, that Caesar might hear of it and
take revenge on Aulus and Pomponia? Think of this: thou mayst
see them now as often as thou wishest."
"How, Marcus?"
"I say 'now,' and I think that thou wilt be able to see them without
danger, when thou art mine. For should Caesar hear of this, and
ask what I did with the hostage whom he gave me, I should say 'I
married her, and she Visits the house of Aulus with my consent.'
He will not remain long in Antium, for he wishes to go to Achiea;
and even should he remain, I shall not need to see him daily. When
Paul of Tarsus teaches me your faith, I will receive baptism at
once, I will come here, gain the friendship of Aulus and
Pornponia, who will return to the city by that time, and there will
be no further hindrance, I will seat thee at my hearth. Oh,
carissima! carissirna!"
And he stretched forth his liand, as if taking Heaven as witness of
his love;. and Lygia, raising her clear eyes to him, said, -- "And
then I shall say, 'Wherever thou art, Caius, there am I, Caia.'"
"No, Lygia," cried Vinicius, "I swear to thee that never has woman
been so honored in the house of her husband as thou shalt be in
mine."
For a time they walked on in silence, without being able to take in
with their breasts their happiness, in love with each other, like two
deities, and as beautiful as if spring had given them to the world
with the flowers.
They halted at last under the cypress growing near the entrance of
the house. Lygia leaned against his breast, and Vinicius began to
entreat again with a trembling voice, -- "Tell Ursus to go to the
house of Aulus for thy furniture and playthings of childhood."
But she, blushing like a rose or like the dawn, answered, --
"Custom commands otherwise."
"I know that. The pronuba1 usually brings them behind the bride,
but do this for me. I will take them to my villa in Antium, and they
will remind me of thee."
Here he placed his hands together and repeated, like a child who is
begging for something, -- "It will be some days before Pomponia
returns; so do this, diva, do this, carissima."
"But Pomponia will do as she likes," answered Lygia, blushing still
more deeply at mention of the pronuba.
And again they were silent, for love had begun to stop the breath in
their breasts. Lygia stood with shoulders leaning against the
cypress, her face whitening in the shadow, like a flower, her eyes
drooping, her bosom heaving with more and more life. Vinicius
changed in the face, and grew pale. In the silence of the afternoon
they only heard the beating of their hearts, and in their mutual
ecstasy that cypress, the myrtle bushes, and the ivy of the
summer-house became for them a paradise of love. But Miriam
appeared in the door, and invited them to the afternoon meal. They
sat down then with the Apostles, who gazed at them with pleasure,
as on the young generation which after their death would preserve
anti sow still further the seed of the new faith. Peter broke and
blessed bread. There was calm on all faces, and a certain immense
happiness seemed to overflow the whole house.
"See," said Paul at last, turning to Vinicius, "are we enemies of life
and happiness?"
"I know how that is," answered Vinicius, "for never have I been so
happy as among you."
1The matron who accompanies the bride and explains to her the
duties of a wife. _