m
his breast he drew a roll of parchment which he offered to the Augusta.

"Rise, Folces, and go while I read," she said; "wait outside the door
till I do summon thee."

She waited until the man had closed the heavy door behind him: she
wanted to be alone with these last words which he had penned for her.
Now she untied the string that held the roll together, then she unfolded
the parchment and read:

"Idol of my soul, beloved of my heart. Aroused from dreams of
thee, my wakening soul takes its last flight to thy feet. This is
farewell, my dear, dear heart, even as my hand pens the word the
dawn around me turns to the likeness of the night, and it is
peopled with all the sorrows that wear out the heartstrings
slowly, one by one. The Caesar is safe. Even as I write he starts
forth on his way to join his legions. Having left him in charge
of those who do not know how to betray, I succeeded in the night
in reaching the detachment of the praetorian guard encamped
around the Circus: a small company of them returned with me to
the lonely house on the Aventine, and from thence at break of day
they started with the Caesar toward Etruria, where the legions
home from the expedition against the Allemanni were still known to
abide. In three or four days, or mayhap five, the Caesar will
re-enter his city. His proclamation of pardon is so worded that
his keeping of his word is closely bound up both with his honour
and with his personal safety. The people therefore have naught to
fear from his vengeance: those who have more actively conspired
against him, and who would have drawn thee in their selfish
schemes, have time before them to put themselves and their
belongings out of the immediate reach of the Caesar. Tell them to
live in retirement as far from Rome as they can until such time
as the events of the past few days have been erased from the
tablets of memory.

"The Caesar is safe, and I, dear heart, do bid thee a last
farewell. When I parted from thee yesterday we both knew then
that the parting would be for ever; even though thine exquisite
hands clung to me and twined themselves round the very fibres of
my soul, and thy voice called me back with the ineffable
sweetness of thy love, I knew that it would be for ever. The
Caesar will never forgive me that I witnessed his a