im.

"Augusta," he reiterated, "I implore thee! Where is the Caesar?"

"Hid in the Palace of Augustus, whining like a coward for his vanished
power.... Forget him, my dear lord ... he is not worthy of thy
thoughts.... Whither art going?" she added suddenly, for with gentle
force he had disengaged his hands from hers and had turned toward the
door.

"To the Caesar, dear heart," he said simply; "an he is a fugitive he hath
need of friends: an he is afraid, he hath need of courage."

"Thou'lt not go to him, dear lord," she exclaimed indignantly, and her
hands, strong and firm, fastened themselves on his arm. "A coward, I
tell thee ... a madman ... a tyrant ..."

"The Caesar, Augusta," he retorted; "deign to let me go to him."

"Thou'rt mad, Taurus Antinor! Fever is in thy veins and doth cloud the
clearness of thy brain.... Hast not heard the people? They vow vengeance
on him.... 'Tis on thee they call ... thou art their chosen, their
anointed; the people call to thee. It is thou whom they acclaim."

"To-morrow," he said more gently, "they will have forgotten their
disloyalty. To-morrow they will have forgotten me ... they will think me
dead ... dead will I be to them to-morrow."

"Nay! but to-day," she urged, "to-day is thine and mine.... The
praetorian praefect is here and the others ... the choice rests with me
and my choice is made.... Rome even now rings from end to end with thy
name: 'Hail Taurus Antinor Caesar! Hail!' ... Hast no ambition?" she
cried, for at her words he had remained cold and still.

"None," he replied gently, "but so to help the Caesar, that he may gain
the love of his people by acts of grace and mercy, and to see the wings
of peace once more spread over the seven hills of Rome."

With a firm yet exquisitely tender touch he took her clinging hands in
his, forcing her to release her grip on his arm. On her trembling
fingers then he pressed a burning, lingering kiss.

"Thou art not going!" she cried.

"To the Caesar, O my soul! He hath need of me! He has mine oath; my
loyalty is his."

"A madman and a tyrant. If thou goest to him he will kill thee!... his
guard is with him ... he will kill thee!"

"That is as God wills...!"

"Thy god!" she retorted vehemently, "thy god! Doth he wish to part us?
Is my love naught that he should wish thee to spurn it...?"

"The value of thy love is infinite," he said earnestly and tenderly as,
in perfect humility, he bent the knee for one moment befor