A Struggle For Rome Volume Ii Part 79

"No," the woman answered, shaking her head. "Not from without; from within. Not from a man; from a woman."

"What dost thou say?" asked Mataswintha, turning still paler. "How can a woman----"

"Injure the hero? In the devilish wickedness of her heart. Not openly, but by cunning and treachery; perhaps with secret poison, as has already happened; perhaps with secret fire."

"Hold!"

Mataswintha, who had just risen, staggered back to the table and leaned upon it. But the woman followed her and whispered softly:

"I must tell thee of an incredible, shameful act! The King and the people believe that the lightning set the magazines on fire, but I know better. And _he_ shall know it. He shall be warned by _thee_, so that he may discover the rank offender. That night I saw a torch-light pa.s.sing through the galleries of the magazines, and it was carried by a woman. _Her_ hand cast it amongst the stores! Thou shudderest? Yes, a _woman_. Wherefore wilt thou go? Hear one other word, and I will leave thee. The name? I do not know it. But the woman fell just at my feet, and, recovering, escaped; but as she went, she lost a sign and means of recognition--this snake of emeralds."

And the woman held up a bracelet in the light of the lamp.

Mataswintha, tortured to death, started upright. She held both arms over her face. The hasty movement disturbed her kerchief. Her red-gold hair fell over her shoulders, and through the hair gleamed a golden bracelet with an emerald snake, which encircled her left arm.

The woman saw it and screamed:

"Ha! by the G.o.d of the faithful! It was thou--thou thyself! _His_ Queen--his _wife_ has betrayed him! He shall know it! Curses upon thee!"

With a piercing cry, Mataswintha fell back upon her couch and buried her face in the cushions.

The scream brought Aspa from the adjoining room. But when she entered, the Queen was alone.

The curtain of the door still rustled. The beggar had disappeared.

CHAPTER XXIII.

The next morning Procopius, Johannes, Demetrius, Bessas, Acacius, Vitalius, and many other Byzantine leaders arrived in the city, and, to the great astonishment of the Ravennese, entered the King's palace.

They a.s.sembled there to take counsel as to particular stipulations, and to decide upon the form of surrender.

Meanwhile the Goths heard only that peace was concluded. The two princ.i.p.al considerations, for the sake of which they had endured all the grievous war, were obtained. They would be free, and remain in undisturbed possession of the lovely Southland, which had become so dear to them. That was far more than could have been expected, considering the desperate state at which the Gothic cause had arrived since the retreat from Rome and the inevitable loss of Ravenna; and the heads of the great families, and other influential men in the army, who were now made acquainted with the intentions of Belisarius, were completely satisfied with the conditions agreed upon.

The few who refused acquiescence were freely allowed to depart from Ravenna and Italy.

But, apart from this, the Gothic army in Ravenna had already been dispersed in all directions.

Witichis saw that it was impossible to feed the Gothic army and the population, as well as the hosts of Belisarius, from the produce of the exhausted land; he therefore agreed to the proposal of Belisarius, that the Goths, in companies of a hundred or a thousand, should be led out of the gates of the city and dismissed in all directions to their native places.

Belisarius feared the outbreak of despair when the terrible treachery practised should become known, and he therefore wished for the speedy dispersal of the disbanded army. Once in Ravenna, he hoped to be able to quell any possible rebellion in the open country without difficulty.

Tarvisium, Verona, and Ticinum, the last strongholds of the Goths in Italy, could not then, for any length of time, resist the forces which would be sent against them.

The execution of these measures was the work of many days. Only when very few Goths were left in Ravenna did Belisarius decide upon entering the city. And even of the few who remained, half were transferred to the Byzantine camp, the other half being divided amongst the different quarters of the city, under the pretext of being ready to crush any possible resistance on the part of Justinian's adherents.

But what surprised the Ravennese and the uninitiated Goths the most was, that the blue Gothic flag still waved upon the roof of the palace.

Certainly it was guarded by a Byzantine instead of by a Gothic sentinel. For the palace was already full of Byzantines.

Belisarius had taken particular measures against any attempt of the Prefect to make himself master of the city, as he had done of Rome.

Cethegus saw through this and smiled. He did nothing to prevent it.

On the morning of the day appointed for the entrance, Cethegus entered the tent of Belisarius, clad in a magnificent suit of armour. He found only Procopius.

"Are you ready!" he asked.

"Perfectly."

"At what time shall it take place?"

"At the moment when the King mounts his horse in the courtyard of the palace in order to ride to meet Belisarius. We have thought of everything."

"Once more of everything!" said Cethegus, with a laugh. "Yet one thing you have left to me. It is certain that as soon as our plan has succeeded and become known, that the barbarians all over the country will fly into a rage. Revenge and compa.s.sion for their King may cause them to commit furious deeds. But all their enthusiasm for Witichis and anger against us would be nipped in the bud; they would consider themselves betrayed by their King, and not by us, if we could get him to sign a doc.u.ment to the purport that he did not surrender the city to Belisarius as the King of the Goths and a rebel against the Emperor, but simply to Justinian's commander-in-chief. Then the revolt of Belisarius, which will actually not take place, would seem to the Goths to have been a mere lie invented by their King in order to hide from them the shame of the surrender."

"That would be excellent; but Witichis will not do it."

"_Knowingly_, scarcely; but perhaps unknowingly. He has only signed the treaty in the original yet?"

"He has signed only once."

"And the doc.u.ment is in his possession? Good. I will make him sign the duplicate which I have drawn up, so that Belisarius also may possess the valuable doc.u.ment."

Procopius looked at it.

"If he sign this, then, indeed, not a Goth will raise his sword in his defence. But----"

"Let me manage the 'buts.' Either he will voluntarily sign it to-day, unread, under pressure of the moment----"

"Or?"

"Or," concluded Cethegus gloomily, "he will sign it later, against his will. I will now go before you. Excuse me if I do not a.s.sist at your triumphal procession. Many congratulations to Belisarius."

But as he turned to go, Belisarius himself entered the tent, unarmed, and looking very sullen. He was followed by Antonina.

"Hasten, general," cried Procopius, "Ravenna waits for her conqueror.

The entrance----"

"Speak not of it!" cried Belisarius angrily. "I regret the whole affair! Recall the soldiers!"

Cethegus remained standing at the entrance of the tent.

"Belisarius!" cried Procopius, horrified, "what demon has put you into this temper?"

"I!" said Antonina proudly. "What do you say now?"

"I say that great statesmen have no business with wives," cried Procopius angrily.