A Struggle For Rome Volume Ii Part 76

But the events which actually occurred afterwards, were very different to what either the Prefect or Belisarius had expected.

CHAPTER XXI.

The King had left the breach in the wall and the Tower of aetius to the care of Hildebad, and hurried at once to the place of the conflagration.

When he arrived he found the fire dying out--but merely for want of more combustibles.

The whole contents of the magazines, together with the wooden walls and roofs, and everything that could burn, had been destroyed; not a remnant of corn nor a splinter of wood was left. The naked smoke and soot-blackened stone walls of the marble Circus alone still rose into the sky. Not a sign of its having been struck by lightning could be seen. The fire must have glimmered for some time after the lightning had kindled the woodwork, and spread slowly and unseen through the interior of the building; and when smoke and flame had burst through the apertures in the roof, it was too late to save the structure. The inhabitants had enough to do to save the neighbouring houses, of which many had already caught fire in various places.

The rain, which began to fall shortly before daybreak, came to their a.s.sistance. The wind, thunder and lightning had ceased; but when the sun broke through the clouds it only illumined, instead of the granaries, a miserable heap of rubbish and ashes in the middle of the marble Circus.

The King leaned against one of the pillars of the Basilica, sadly and silently looking at the ruins.

For a long time he stood motionless, only sometimes he drew his mantle more closely over his heaving chest.

A painful resolution was ripening in his soul, which seemed to have become as still as the grave.

But round about him the place was full of the misery of the poor people of Ravenna, who prayed, scolded, wept and cursed.

"Oh! what will now become of us?"--"Oh, how sweet and good and white was the bread which we received but yesterday!"--"What shall we eat now?"--"Bah, the King must help us."--"Yes, the King must give us bread."--"The King? Ah, the poor man! where will he get it?"--"He has no more."--"That's another thing!"--"He alone has brought us to this pa.s.s!"--"It is his fault!"--"Why did he not surrender the city to the Emperor long ago?"--"Yes, to its rightful master!"--"Curses on the barbarians! It is all their fault!"--"No, no, it is only the King's fault!"--"Do you not understand? It is a punishment from G.o.d!"--"Punishment? Why? What wrong has he done? Has he not given bread to the people?"--"Then you do not know? How can a bigamist deserve the grace of G.o.d? The wicked man has two wives. He l.u.s.ted for the beauty of Mataswintha, and did not rest until she became his. He put away his lawful wife."

Witichis indignantly descended the steps.

He was disgusted with the people.

But they recognised him.

"There is the King! How gloomy he looks!" they called to each other, avoiding him.

"Oh, I don't fear him! I fear hunger more than his anger. Give us bread. King Witichis! Do you hear? We are starving!" cried a ragged old man, catching at the King's mantle.

"Bread, King!"

"Good King, bread!"

"We are in despair!"

"Help us!"

And the crowd gathered round him with wild gestures.

Quietly but decisively the King freed himself.

"Have patience," he said gravely; "before the sun sets you shall have bread."

And he hurried to his room.

There a Roman physician and some of Mataswintha's attendants awaited him.

"Sire," said the physician, "the Queen, your wife, is very sick. The terrors of last night have disturbed her mind. She speaks as if in delirium. Will you not see her?"

"Not now. Have a care of her."

"With an air of great distress and anxiety she gave me this key," added the physician. "It appeared to be the princ.i.p.al subject of her wandering speeches. She took it from under her pillow, and she made me swear to give it into your own hands, as it was of great importance."

With a bitter smile the King took the key and threw it on one side.

"It is no longer of importance. Go; leave me: and send my secretary."

An hour later, Procopius admitted Cethegus into the tent of the commander-in-chief.

As he entered, Belisarius, who was pacing to and fro with hasty steps, cried out:

"This comes of your plans, Prefect--of your arts and lies! I always said that lies are the source of ruin. I do not understand such ways!

Oh, why did I follow your advice? Now I am in great straits!"

"What mean these virtuous speeches?" Cethegus asked Procopius.

The latter handed him a letter.

"Bead. These barbarians are unfathomable in their grand simplicity.

They conquer the devil by virtue of their childlike minds. Read."

And Cethegus read with amazement:

"'Yesterday thou didst acquaint me with three things: that the Franks had betrayed me; that thou, allied with them, wilt wrest the West from the ungrateful Emperor; and that thou offerest the Goths a free departure, unarmed, over the Alps. Yesterday I answered that the Goths would never give up their arms, nor Italy, the conquest and inheritance of their great King, and that I would rather fall here with my whole army than do so. This I answered yesterday. I say so still, although earth, air, fire, and water are allied against me. But last night, as I watched the flames which were devouring my stores, I felt sure of what I have long dimly suspected. That a curse lies upon me. For my sake the Goths perish. This shall go on no longer. The crown upon my head has. .h.i.therto prevented me from taking an honourable course; it shall prevent me no longer. Thou art right to rebel against the false and ungrateful Justinian! He is our enemy and thine. Well then--instead of placing thy confidence in an army of faithless Franks, place it in the whole Gothic nation, whose strength and fidelity are known to thee!

With the first thou wouldst share Italy; with us thou canst keep it all. Let me be the first to greet thee as Emperor of the West and King of the Goths. All the rights of my people remain untouched; thou simply takest my place. I myself will set my crown upon thy head, and verily, no Justinian shall then tear it from thee! If thou rejectest this offer, prepare for such a battle as thou hast never yet fought. I will break into thy camp with fifty thousand Goths. We shall fall, but with us thy whole army. The one and the other. I have sworn it. Choose.

"'WITICHIS.'"

For one moment the Prefect was terribly alarmed. He cast a swift and searching look at Belisarius.

But a single glance sufficed to set him at ease.

"It is Belisarius," he said to himself, "but it is always dangerous to play with the devil. What A temptation!"

He returned the letter, and said with a smile: "What an idea! To what strange things can desperation lead!"

"The idea would not be bad," observed Procopius, "if----"

"If Belisarius were not Belisarius," said Cethegus, smiling.

"Spare your smiles," said Belisarius. "I admire the man, and I cannot take it amiss that he thinks I am capable of revolt. Have I not pretended to be so?" and he stamped his foot. "Now advise and help me!

You have led me to this miserable alternative. I cannot say yes; and if I say no--I may look upon the Emperor's army as annihilated, and, into the bargain, must confess that I pretended to revolt!"