derness seemed to pass right over
his face, making the harsh lines seem marvellously soft.

"I hear thy voice," he murmured, "soft as the breath of spring among the
leaves of roses."

"The people call for thee."

"And thy hand is on my arm and I feel the magic of thy touch."

She stood there quite close to him, tall and slender like those lilies
which--ever since he first beheld her--had so sweetly reminded him of
her. Her simple grey tunic fell in straight folds from her shoulders,
not a single jewel adorned her hands or neck, only her hair, in heavy
plaits, made a crown of gold above her brow.

Never had she seemed to him so beautiful as now, for never had she
seemed so womanly and yet so young. Her soul--rising triumphant from its
trammels of high rank and artificial living--emerged god-like, opening
out to the advent of love, welcoming it as it came, enfolding it in its
own ardour and in its purity. With this man's presence near her, with
her hand upon his arm, she had suddenly understood. Ambition, power,
dominion of the world had vanished from her thoughts.

She had found love, knew love, felt its empire and its yoke, and the
vista which that knowledge opened up before her was more wonderful than
she could ever have dreamed of before.

Her cheeks were glowing with enthusiasm, her lips were parted and her
eyes were of a vivid, translucent blue, with the pupils like brilliant
sardonyx, full of dark and mysterious lights. She was ready to meet love
with a surfeit of the rich gifts which she had at her command.

"The people call to thee, Taurus Antinor," she reiterated eagerly; "they
want a man to lead them. They are tired of tyranny, of bloodshed and of
idleness. They want to live! Therefore they call to thee. Two hundred
thousand hearts were opened to thee yesterday in the Amphitheatre! Two
hundred thousand tongues acclaimed thee even as in thine arms thou didst
hold my lord Hortensius Martius and didst bear him into safety. The
people have need of thee, and are ready to follow thee whithersoever
thou wouldst lead them. They are miserable and oppressed, they want
justice! They are starving and want bread. Their fate is in thy keeping
for thou wouldst give them justice, and thou wouldst feed the poor and
clothe the needy. All this morning did I hear the moans of the
down-trodden, the wretched and the weak, and felt that Rome could only
find happiness now through thee."

"And the Caesar?" he said. "Where is