A Struggle For Rome Volume Ii Part 43

She read with avidity; the contents of the papyrus seemed to entrance her; her finely-cut lips moved involuntarily, and at last she began to read aloud in a low voice:

"His child to Hector of the brazen helm Was given in marriage; she it was who now Met him, and by her side the nurse, who bore Clasped to her breast, his all-unconscious child, Hector's loved infant, fair as morning star; Silent he smiled as on his boy he gazed, But at his side, Andromache in tears, Hung on his arm, and thus the chief addressed: 'Dear lord, thy dauntless spirit will work thy doom; Nor hast thou pity on this thy helpless child, Or me, forlorn to lie thy widow soon: For thee will all the Greeks with force combined a.s.sail and slay: for me, 'twere better far, Of thee bereft, to lie beneath the sod; Nor comfort shall be mine, if thou be lost, But endless grief: to me nor sire is left, Nor honoured mother; But, Hector, thou to me art all in one, Sire, mother, brethren! thou, my wedded love!'"

She read no further; her large eyes grew moist; her voice died away; her head sank upon her bosom.

"Valeria!" said a mild voice, and Ca.s.siodorus bent forward over her shoulder; "tears upon the book of comfort! But what do I see--the 'Iliad?' Child, I gave you the Evangelists!"

"Pardon me, Ca.s.siodorus; my heart clings to other G.o.ds than yours. You cannot imagine how, the more the shadow of earnest self-denial presses upon me since I entered these walls, the more tenaciously my resisting heart holds fast to the last ties that bind me to the world. And my mind vacillates between disgust and love."

At this moment a loud and cheerful sound broke the silence; a strange tone in these quiet precincts, which usually echoed only the low choral of the nuns.

Trumpets sounded the merry signal of the Gothic hors.e.m.e.n. The tones penetrated Valerians heart with a life-giving feeling. The gatekeeper came running from the dwelling-house.

"Master," he cried, "bold hors.e.m.e.n are outside the gate. They make a noise and demand meat and drink. They will not be refused, and their leader--there he is!"

"Totila!" cried Valeria, and flew to meet her lover, who appeared in his glittering armour and white mantle. "Oh, you bring me air and life!"

"And new hope and old love!" said Totila, and held her in a fast embrace.

"Whence come you? How long you have been away!"

"I come straightway from Paris and Aurelianum, from the courts of the Frank kings. Oh, Ca.s.siodorus, how well off are those on the other side of the mountains! What an easy life have they! There heaven and earth and tradition do not fight against their German spirit. The Rhenus and Danubius are near, and uncounted Germanic races dwell there in old and unbroken strength; we, on the contrary, are like an advanced outpost, a forlorn hope, a single block of rock, worn away by the envious elements. But all the greater fame," he continued, drawing himself up, "if we can create and uphold a kingdom for the Germans in the centre of the country of the Romans! And what a magic lies in your fatherland, Valeria! And we have made it ours. How my heart rejoiced when olives and laurels and the deep deep blue of heaven again greeted my eyes! I felt that if my people can victoriously sustain themselves in this wondrous land, mankind will see its n.o.blest ideal realised."

Valeria pressed his hand.

"And what have you accomplished?" asked Ca.s.siodorus.

"Much! Everything! At the court of the Merovingian, Childebert, I met with amba.s.sadors from Byzantium, who had already half persuaded him to invade Italy as their allies. The G.o.ds--forgive me, pious father--Heaven was with me and my words. I succeeded in altering Childebert's sentiments. In the worst case, his weapons will remain neutral. But I hope he will send an army to our a.s.sistance."

"Where did you leave Julius?"

"I accompanied him to his lovely home, Avenio. There I left him among blooming almond-trees and oleanders; there he wanders, no more with 'Plato.' but almost always with 'Augustinus' in his hand; and dreams and dreams of eternal peace between the nations, of perfect goodness, and of the kingdom of G.o.d! It is indeed lovely in those green vales; but I do not envy him his leisure. My ideal is folk and fatherland. And my only desire is to fight for this people of the Goths. Everywhere in my backward journey I drove the people to arms. I already met three strong troops on the way to Ravenna. I myself lead a fourth to our brave King. At last we shall advance against these Greeks, and then revenge for Neapolis!" and with flas.h.i.+ng eyes he raised his spear. He was very beautiful to look upon.

Valeria threw herself into his arms.

"Oh see, Ca.s.siodorus!" she cried; "this is _my_ world! _my_ joy! my heaven! Manly courage and the glitter of arms and love of one's people, and the soul moved with love and hate--does not this satisfy the human soul?"

"Yes; while happy and young! It is pain which leads the mind to heaven."

"My pious father," said Totila, laying his right hand upon the shoulder of Ca.s.siodorus, and drawing Valeria close to him with his left, "it ill becomes me to argue with you, who are older, wiser, and better. But I feel just the contrary. If I could ever doubt the goodness of G.o.d, it is when I see pain and undeserved suffering. When I saw my n.o.ble Miriam's eyes extinguished in death, my doubting heart asked: 'Does there then exist no G.o.d?' In happiness and the suns.h.i.+ne of life is the grace of the Supreme Being revealed to me. He certainly wills the happiness of mankind--pain is His sacred secret; I trust that also this riddle will be made clear to us. But meanwhile let us joyfully do our best upon earth, and allow no shadow to darken our minds too long. In this belief, Valeria, let us part. For I must go to King Witichis with my troop."

"You leave me? Already? Ah, when and where shall I see you again?"

"You shall see me again; take my word in pledge. I know the day will come when I shall have the right to take you from these gloomy walls and lead you to life and suns.h.i.+ne. Meanwhile, do not allow yourself to give way to sad thoughts. The day of victory and happiness will come; and I rejoice that I draw my sword at once for my people and my love."

While he was speaking the gatekeeper had brought a letter for Ca.s.siodorus.

"I too must leave you, Valeria," said the latter. "Rusticiana, the widow of Boethius, calls me to her death-bed. She wishes to ease her mind of old guilt. I go to Tifernum."

"My way leads thither also; we will go together, Ca.s.siodorus. Farewell, my Valeria!"

After a brief leave-taking, the maiden watched her lover set forth.

She climbed a small tower on the garden wall, and looked after him.

She saw him swing himself into the saddle; she saw his hors.e.m.e.n gallop after him.

Their helmets glittered in the evening light; the blue flag fluttered merrily in the wind; it was a picture of life, strength, and youth.

She looked after the troop for some time with intense longing.

But as it disappeared more and more into the distance, the joyous courage with which her lover's visit had imbued her, gradually forsook her. Sad forebodings arose in her heart, and she unconsciously expressed her feelings in the words of her beloved Homer:

"'Achilles, too, thou see'st; how stalwart, tall, and fair!

Yet must he yield to death and stubborn fate, Whene'er at morn, or noon, or eve, the spear Or arrow from the bow may reach his life.'"

Sighing painfully, she left the quickly darkening garden, and entered the damp walls of the convent.

CHAPTER III.

Meanwhile King Witichis, in his armed city of Ravenna, displayed all the arts and activity of an experienced general.

As, week by week, and day by day, larger or smaller divisions of the Gothic troops which had been treacherously sent to the frontiers by Theodahad, returned to the city, the King was unceasingly occupied in arming, training, and regulating the whole army, which was gradually to be brought to the number of a hundred and fifty thousand.

For Theodoric's reign had been extremely peaceful; the garrisons of the frontier provinces had alone seen active service against the Gepidae, Bulgarians, and Avarians; and during a peace of more than thirty years the regulations of the army had become somewhat rusty.

Therefore the King, supported by his friends and generals, had work enough on his hands.

The a.r.s.enals and docks were emptied; immense magazines were built in the city, and, between the threefold walls, endless rows of workshops were erected for smiths and armourers of all kinds, who were obliged to labour day and night, in order to satisfy the demands of the ever increasing army, and the eager exigence of the King.

All Ravenna had become a camp.

Nothing was heard but the hammers of the smiths, the neighing of horses, the rattle of arms, and the war-cry of man[oe]uvring troops.

In this turmoil and restless activity Witichis sought to deaden his grief as well as he could, and looked eagerly forward to the day when he might lead his brave army to meet the enemy.

But though his first impulse was to lose himself in the vortex of a fierce struggle, he did not forget his duty as King, but sent Duke Guntharis and Hildebad to Belisarius with a proposal of peace on the most moderate conditions.

His time thus completely claimed by affairs of state, Witichis had scarcely a thought or look to spare for his Queen, upon whom, as he also imagined, he could bestow no greater favour than the undisturbed enjoyment of liberty.

But since the fatal marriage feast of Witichis and Mataswintha, at the end of which she had learned in the bridal chamber, from his lips, that he did not, could never love her, and had but called her wife to save the nation, Mataswintha had been possessed by a demon: the demon of insatiable revenge.

The most deadly hatred is that of revolted love.

From her childhood Witichis had been Mataswintha's ideal. Her pride, her hope, and her love were all centred in him; and she had as little doubted that the sun would rise on the morrow, as that her longing for him would be satisfied. And now she was forced to confess to herself that he had discovered her pa.s.sion, and did not reciprocate it; and that, although she was his Queen, her love for him appeared criminal, with regard to his banished wife, who yet alone reigned in his heart.