moment he hesitated whether he would not take what revenge he could by denouncing Malchus. But the thought was speedily put aside. He had been wrong in striking the domestic slave of another; but the fact that Malchus had been first attacked, and the whole influence of the house of Gracchus, its relations, friends, and clients exerted in his behalf, would hardly suffice to save him. Still the revenge would be bought dearly in the future hostility of Flavia and her friends, and in the exposure of his own humiliating attitude. He, therefore, with a great effort subdued all signs of anger and said:
'Lady Flavia, your wish has always been law to me, and I would rather that anything should happen than that I should lose your favour and patronage, therefore, I am willing to forget what has happened, the more so as I own that I acted wrongly in striking your slave. I trust that after this apology you will continue to be the kindly friend I have always found you.'
'Certainly, Sempronius,' Flavia said graciously, 'and I shall not forget your ready acquiescence in my wishes.'
It was the more easy for Sempronius to yield, inasmuch as Malchus had, after stating that he had been first struck, quietly left the apartment. For some little time things went on as before. Malchus was now at home in Rome. As a slave of one of the most powerful families, as was indicated by the badge he wore on his dress, he was able, when his services were not required, to wander at will in the city. He made the circuit of the walls, marked the spots which were least frequented and where an escape would be most easily made; and, having selected a spot most remote from the busy quarter of the town, he purchased a long rope, and carrying it there concealed it under some stones close to one of the flights of steps by which access was obtained to the summit of the wall.
The difficulty was not how to escape from Rome, for that, now that he had so much freedom of movement, was easy, but how to proceed when he had once gained the open country. For himself he had little doubt that he should be able to make his way through the territories of the allies of Rome, but the difficulty of travelling with Clotilde would be much greater.
'Clotilde,' he said one day, 'set your wits to work and try and think of some disguise in which you might pass with me. I have already prepared for getting beyond the walls; but the pursuit after us will be hot, and until we reach the Carthaginian lines every man's hand will be against us.'
'I have thought of it, Malchus; the only thing that I can see is for me to stain my skin and dye my hair and go as a peasant boy.'
'That is what I, too, have thought of, Clotilde. The disguise would be a poor one, for the roundness of your arms and the colour of your eyes would betray you at once to any one who looked closely at you. However, as I can see no better way, I will get the garments and some for myself to match, and some stuff for staining the skin and hair.'
The next day Malchus bought the clothes and dye and managed to bring them into the house unobserved, and to give to Clotilde those intended for her.
The lion, under the influence of the mingled firmness and kindness of Malchus, had now recovered his docility, and followed him about the house like a great dog, sleeping stretched out on a mat by the side of his couch.
Sempronius continued his visits. Malchus was seldom present when he was with Flavia, but Clotilde was generally in the room. It was now the height of summer, and her duty was to stand behind her mistress with a large fan, with which she kept up a gentle current of air over Flavia's head and drove off the troublesome flies. Sometimes she had to continue doing so for hours, while Flavia chatted with her friends.
Sempronius was biding his time. The two slaves were still high in Flavia's favour, but he was in hopes that something might occur which would render her willing to part with them. He watched Julia narrowly whenever Malchus entered the room, and became more and more convinced that she had taken a strong fancy for the Carthaginian slave, and the idea occurred to him that by exciting her jealousy he might succeed in obtaining his object. So careful were Malchus and Clotilde that he had no idea whatever that any understanding existed between them. This, however, mattered but little; nothing was more likely than that these two handsome slaves should fall in love with each other, and he determined to suggest the idea to Julia.
Accordingly one day when he was sitting beside her, while Flavia was talking with some other visitors, he remarked carelessly, 'Your mother's two slaves, the Carthaginian and the Gaul, would make a handsome couple.'
He saw a flush of anger in Julia's face. For a moment she did not reply, and then said in a tone of indifference:
'Yes, they are each well favoured in their way.'
'Methinks the idea has occurred to them,' Sempronius said. 'I have seen them glance at each other, and doubt not that when beyond your presence they do not confine themselves to looks.'
Julia was silent, but Sempronius saw, in the tightly compressed lips and the lowering brow with which she looked from one to the other, that the shaft had told.
'I have wondered sometimes,' he said, 'in an idle moment, whether they ever met before. The Carthaginians were for some time among the Cisalpine Gauls, and the girl was, you have told me, the daughter of a chief there; they may well have met.'
Julia made no reply, and Sempronius, feeling that he had said enough, began to talk on other subjects. Julia scarcely answered him, and at last impatiently waved him away. She sat silent and abstracted until the last of the visitors had left, then she rose from her seat and walked quietly up to her mother and said abruptly to Clotilde, who was standing behind her mistress: 'Did you know the slave Malchus before you met here?'
The suddenness of the question sent the blood up into the cheeks of the Gaulish maiden, and Julia felt at once that the hints of Sempronius were fully justified.
'Yes,' Clotilde answered quietly, 'I met him when, with Hannibal, he came down from the Alps into our country.'
'Why did you not say so before?' Julia asked passionately. 'Mother, the slaves have been deceiving us.'
'Julia,' Flavia said in surprise, 'why this heat? What matters it to us whether they have met before?'
Julia did not pay any attention, but stood with angry eyes waiting for Clotilde's answer.
'I did not know, Lady Julia,' the girl said quietly, 'that the affairs of your slaves were of any interest to you. We recognized each other when we first met. Long ago now, when we were both in a different position — '
'And when you loved each other?' Julia said in a tone of concentrated passion.
'And when we loved each other,' Clotilde repeated, her head thrown back now, and her bearing as proud and haughty as that of Julia.
'You hear that, mother? you hear this comedy that these slaves have been playing under your nose? Send them both to the whipping post.'
'My dear Julia,' Flavia exclaimed, more and more surprised at her anger, 'what harm has been done? You astonish me. Clotilde, you can retire. What means all this, Julia?' she went on more severely when they were alone; 'why all this strange passion because two slaves, who by some chance have met each other before, are lovers? What is this Gaulish girl, what is this Carthaginian slave, to you?'
'I love him, mother!' Julia said passionately.
'You!' Flavia exclaimed in angry surprise; 'you, Julia, of the house of Gracchus, love a slave! You are mad, girl, and shameless.'
'I say so without shame,' Julia replied, 'and why should I not? He is a noble of Carthage, though now a prisoner of war. What if my father is a consul? Malchus is the cousin of Hannibal, who is a greater man than Rome has ever yet seen. Why should I not wed him?'
'In the first place, it seems, Julia,' Flavia said gravely, 'because he loves someone else. In the second place, because, as I hear, he is likely to be exchanged very shortly for a praetor taken prisoner at Cannae, and will soon be fighting against us. In the third place, because all Rome would be scandalized were a Roman maiden of the patrician order, and of the house of Gracchus, to marry one of the invaders of her country. Go to, Julia, I blush for you! So this is the reason why of late you have behaved so coldly to Sempronius. Shame on you, daughter! What would your father say, did he, on his return from the field, hear of your doings? Go to your chamber, and do not let me see you again till you can tell me that you have purged this madness from your veins.'
Without a word Julia turned and left the room. Parental discipline was strong in Rome, and none dare disobey a parent's command, and although Julia had far more liberty and license than most unmarried Roman girls, she did not dare to answer her mother when she spoke in such a tone.
Flavia sat for some time in thought, then she sent for Malchus. He had already exchanged a few words with
