Andivius Hedulio: Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire Read online

  CHAPTER II

  A COUNTRY DINNER

  Just then Tanno caught sight of a horseman approaching up the valley. Ilooked where he pointed.

  "That will be Entedius Hirnio," I said. "Of my dinner guests he livesfurthest away and so he always comes in first to any festivity."

  "How far beyond Vediamnum does he live?" Tanno enquired.

  "On the other side of the Vedian lands," I explained. "His property isover the divide towards the Tolenus, in between Villa Vedia and VillaAemilia."

  Entedius it was, as I made sure, when he drew nearer, by his magnificentblack mare. He covered the last hundred paces at a furious gallop, pulledup his snorting mare abruptly, and dismounted jauntily. Plainly, at firstsight, he and Tanno liked each other. When I had introduced them theylooked each other up and down appraisingly, Entedius appearing to relishTanno's swarthy vigor, warm coloring and exuberant health as much as didTanno his hard-muscled leanness and weather-beaten complexion.

  "Are you any relation to Entedia Jucunda?" Tanno queried.

  "Very distant," Hirnio replied, "very distant indeed: too far for us tocall each other 'cousin.' When I am in Rome I always call on her; once ina while she invites me to one of her very big dinners; otherwise we neversee each other."

  Almost before they had exchanged greetings Mallius Vulso rounded the housefrom the east and then Neponius Pomplio from the west; after he had beenpresented, the two other Satronians, Bultius Seclator and Juventius Muso,cantered up, followed closely by Fisevius Rusco and Lisius Naepor, bothadherents of the Vedian side of the feud.

  As soon as the stable-boys had led off their horses we started bathwards,delayed a moment by the arrival of a slave of Entedius, on a mule, leadinganother heavily laden with two packs. We made a quick bath, with noloitering, and at once went in to dinner. My uncle had been to the lastdegree conservative and old-fashioned. He would have nothing to do withany new inventions, save his own. So he would not hear of any alterationsin the furnishings of his villa, except those suggested by his ideas ofsanitation. Otherwise it had been kept just as my grandfather had left itto him. In particular uncle could not be brought to like the newly popularC-shaped dining sofas, which all Rome and all fashionables all over Italyand the provinces had so acclaimed and so promptly adopted along withcircular-topped dining-tables. My _triclinium_ still held grandfather'ssquare-topped table and the three square sofas about it. Uncle's will, infact, had stipulated that no furnishings of the villa must be alteredwithin five years of the date of his death. As I had to adjust my formaldinners to the old style, I was not only delighted to have Tanno with usfor himself and for his jollity, but also because he just made up the ninediners demanded by ancient convention.

  Agathemer had asked me, as a special favor, to leave the decoration of the_triclinium_ entirely to him, and I had agreed, when he fairly begged me,not to enter the _triclinium_ or even pass its door, after my noondaysiesta. When I did enter it with my guests I was dazzled. The sun had justset and the northwestern sky was all a blaze of golden brightness,streaked with long pink and rosy streamers of cloud, from which theevening light, neither glaring nor dim, flooded through the bignorthwestern windows. The spacious room was a bower of bloom. Greatarmfuls of flowers hid the capitals of the pilasters, others their bases;garlands--heavy, even corpulent garlands--were looped from pilaster topilaster; every vase was filled with flowers, the little vases on thebrackets, the big ones alternating with the statues in the niches, thehuge floor-vases in the corners: the table, the sofas, the floor, all werestrewn with smaller blossoms, tiny flowers or fresh petals of roses. Thegarlands for our heads, which were offered us heaped on a tray, were tothe last degree exquisite. I adjusted mine as if in a dream. I was dazed.I knew that the flowers could not have been supplied by our gardens; Icould not conjecture whence they came.

  Agathemer, bowing and grinning, stood in the inner doorway. My eyesquestioned his.

  "I have a note here," he said, "which I was enjoined not to hand you untilyou had lain down to dinner."

  The two second assistant waiter boys took our shoes and we disposedourselves on the sofas, Tanno in the place of honor, I rejoicing againthat his presence had solved, acceptably to all the rest, the otherwiseinsoluble problem of to whom I should accord that location.

  Agathemer handed me the note. At sight of it I recognized the handwritingof Vedius Caspo. Of course, like my uncle before me, I always invited toany of my formal entertainments all my neighbors except Ducconius Furfur,our enemy, and the only neighbor with whom we were not on good terms.Equally, of course, Vedius Caspo at Villa Vedia and Satronius Dromo atVilla Satronia, regularly found some transparent pretext for declining myinvitation, each fearing that, if he accepted, the other might by someprank of the gods of chance accept also, and they might encounter eachother.

  The thread was too strong for me to break. I tore it out of the seal, and,asking my guests' indulgence, I opened the note. It read:

  "Vedius Caspo to his good friend Andivius Hedulio. If you are well I am well also. I was writing at Villa Vedia on the day before the Nones of June. I had written you some days before and explained my inability to avail myself of your kind invitation to dinner on the Nones. I purposed sending you, with this, what flowers my gardens afford towards decorating your _triclinium_ for your feast. I beg that you accept these as a token of my good will. When you reach Rome I beg that, at your leisure and convenience, you transmit my best wishes to my kinswoman, Vedia Venusta.

  "Farewell."

  This note staggered me more than the sight of the flowers. It was amazingthat Vedius should have taken the trouble to be so gracious to me; thathe should go out of his way to write me the vague and veiled, butunequivocal intimation of his approval of my suit for Vedia implied in thelast sentences of his letter was astounding. Vedia had a very largeproperty inherited from her father, from two aunts and from others of theVedian clan. The whole clan was certain to be very jealous of her choiceof a second husband. I had anticipated their united opposition to my suit.To be assured of his approbation by the beloved brother of the head of theclan made me certain that I should meet with no opposition at all.

  My delight must have irradiated my face. Tanno, the irresistible, at onceurged me to read the note aloud, saying:

  "Don't be a hog. Don't keep all those good things to yourself. Let us havea share of the tid-bits. Read it out to all of us."

  I yielded.

  Of course the three Satronians looked sour. But Tanno knew how to smoothout any embarrassing situation. He beamed at me and fairly bubbled withglee.

  "I bet on you," he said. "The widow will be yours at this rate. But don'tshow her that note till you two are married."

  Before anybody else could speak he went on:

  "I'm famished. So are we all. Flowers are fine to look at and to smell,but give me food. Let's get at our dinner."

  We did. We fell upon the relishes, disposing of them with hardly theinterchange of a word.

  When the boys cleared the table I observed with some pride that Tanno eyedwith an expression of approval the table cloth and the big silver traywhich they set on it, laden with the second course.

  "You are," he said, "pretty well equipped for house-keeping in theseremote wilds, Caius. Your table-cloth is far above the average for towntables and your tray is magnificent."

  That started a round of talk on city usages, town etiquette and courtgossip. Tanno, very naturally, did much of the talking, the rest mostlyquestioning and listening. He spoke at length of the Emperor, but ofcourse more guardedly than while talking to me alone.

  When the tray with the first course was removed and while that with thesecond course was being brought in the talk ebbed. Tanno gave it a turn,which at first seemed likely to prove unfortunate, by saying:

  "Now I've told you the latest news from Rome and the current gossip andthe popular fads. Turn about is fair play. It is time for some of you totell me what just now most interests this country-si
de. My idea of countrylife is that it is about as exciting as the winter sleep of a dormouse orof a hibernating bear; but for all I know, it may be as lively in its wayas life in town; you may be agog over some occurrence as important to youas a change of Palace Prefects would be at Rome. Speak out somebody, ifthere is anything worth telling."

  "Whether it be worth telling I do not know," spoke up Bultius Seclator,"but the country-side hereabouts is agog just now over a recent case ofabduction."

  (I shuddered: here was the feud to the fore in spite of everything. And Ishuddered yet more as I saw set and harden the features of Vulso, Ruscoand Naepor.)

  "To make clear to you," he went on, "I'll have to explain thecircumstances. You undoubtedly know both Satronius Dromo of this valleyand his father, Satronius Satro, at Rome. Satro's father, old SatroniusSatronianus, among the horde of slaves set free by his will, liberated anumber of artisans of various kinds, who, scattered about among theneighboring towns and villages, had lived like free men, in dwellingsbelonging to him or in rented abodes, plying their trades and returning totheir master a better income than he could have derived from theiractivities in any other way, since one of his assistant overseers saw toit that they paid in, unfailingly and promptly, the stipulated percentageof their gains. Among these was a cobbler named Turpio, at Trebula. He wasso expert, so deft, so quick and so ingratiating to customers, that theoverseer insisted on his paying a percentage of his earnings larger thanthat paid by any other similar slave. Now cobbling, at the best of it, isnot an occupation at which one would fancy that anyone would becomewealthy. Yet Turpio grew to be very well off. He early amassed savingsenough to pay for his own freedom, but his master would not agree to that,so Turpio bought the house in which he lived and his workshop. In thecourse of time he accumulated possessions of no mean value and ownedseveral slaves, whom he employed as assistant cobblers. By his master'swill all that he had amassed became his property, of course, when he wasfreed. He was, as he is, very popular in Trebula and among all thecountry-folk round about who visit Trebula. He is esteemed by all who knowhim and by all Satronians of every degree.

  "Now Turpio, some years ago, partly on account of his kind-heartedness,partly since he could never resist a bargain and he got her for almostnothing, partly, perhaps because of his canny foresight, bought awretched, puny, sickly, little runt of a four-year-old slave-girl, a mererack of bones covered with yellow skin. She continued sickly for someyears, then, when she was more than half grown, the fresh air of Trebula,its good water, the kindness with which she was treated, the generous fareaccorded her, all working together, suddenly began to show results. Sheplumped out, grew tall, vigorous, active, graceful and charming. She alsoacquired notable skill at weaving. His intimates congratulated Turpio onhis luck or prescience and foretold for him notable profits from her sale.Turpio averred that he and his spouse were so fond of the girl that he wasunwilling to part with her except to a master or mistress whom she took toand who seemed likely to be kind to her. He refused several handsomeoffers for her. She became notable in Trebula as its most beautifulinhabitant and all who knew her wished her well.

  "Not long ago, Vedius Molo of Concordia, not a bad specimen of a noblelad, I will say, came to Villa Vedia. He roamed about the country as ayoung nobleman will. By some chance he caught sight of Xantha, for that isher name, and, of course, like many another, fell in love with her. Hepromptly offered to buy her. But Xantha did not like him at all andTurpio, as always, consulted her before deciding to sell her. Oppositioninflamed Molo and he bid Turpio up till his business instincts all butovercame his doting affection for Xantha. But Xantha liked Molo less andless the more she saw of him. She begged Turpio not to sell her to Molo.He was obdurate, although Molo bid on up till he was offering a reallyfabulous price, though one well within his means. He could not credit thatTurpio would not yield. When he was convinced that he could not wheedlehim he lost his temper. Turpio told him that the negotiations were at anend and warned him not to return. Molo went off in a rage.

  "Two nights later Turpio's house was broken into by a considerable body ofmen, armed, certainly with clubs or staffs. Turpio and his householddefended themselves vigorously and were all severely mishandled in theaffray, Turpio most severely of all. They were overcome, even overwhelmed,and, before their neighbors could come to their assistance or the townsmenin general rally to help, Xantha was carried off by the intruders, who,beating the night watchman insensible, escaped through the postern of thenorth gate.

  "This highhanded outrage has greatly incensed all Trebula and the entireneighborhood. The night was very dark, neither Turpio nor any of hishousehold nor yet the watchman at the postern claims to have recognizedany of the abductors. Yet all impute the outrage to Vedius Molo. Everymagistrate is alert to punish the delinquents and to return Xantha to hermaster. Yet she has totally vanished. After they passed the postern herabductors left no trace. Whether they had or had not with them a two-wheeled or a four-wheeled carriage or a litter or a sedan-chair cannot bedetermined; nor whether they were on foot or on horseback. The weather wasdry and windy and the rocky roads out of Trebula showed no tracks of anykind. The country has been scoured in every direction and all personsquestioned, not only at the change-stations on the main roads, and atcrossroads, but at all villages. Not a clue has been found; though allTurpio's friends more than suspect Vedius Molo, there is not an iota ofevidence on which anyone could base a demand for a warrant to search VillaVedia or any other specified villa, farmstead or other piece of property.Xantha has vanished. There are rumors that she is at Villa Vedia, but theyseem as baseless as the rumor of a party of horsemen conveying a closedlitter, which rumor has radiated from uncountable localities all abouthere, not one of which localities could, when their inhabitants werequestioned, substantiate the rumor in any way. Equally baseless appear thenumerous rumors that this or that individual has it on unimpeachableauthority that Xantha's abductors are camped somewhere in this or thatwoodland and are preparing to smuggle Xantha into Villa Vedia by thatroute which they deem least probable for such a venture and thereforeleast watched. With all this the country-side is agog, I can assure you."

  "Fairly exciting, I admit," Tanno remarked when Bultius paused. "Soundslike the tales of goings-on in Latium in the days when the Aequi, Volsciand Hernici raided up to the gates of Rome four summers out of five. I hadnot thought Sabinum so primitive."

  Before I could speak, Fisevius Rusco cut in.

  "Bultius," he said, "Vulso and Naepor and I have listened without anyinterruptions to your version of the occurrences you have narrated, and Imust say you have told them as fairly as could be expected from any onewith your leanings. I have no remarks to make on your story nor anythingto say in rebuttal. But it seems to me, it is now your turn, along withNepronius and Juventius, to listen with equal patience, while I narrate asimilar story."

  The three Satronians bowed stiffly and in silence.

  Rusco resumed, addressing Tanno:

  "I shall not," he said, "be compelled to go into details as minutely asdid Bultius. You can comprehend my story with less background.

  "At Reate, for some years past, there lived a worthy couple, freedman andfreedwoman of Vedius Vindex. The husband died more than a year ago,leaving a young and childless widow, named Greia Posis, possessed of agood town-house and of three small farms not far out in the country.Naturally as she was comely and well-off, Greia soon had suitors aplenty.For some time she showed no favor to any, but lately it has been plainthat she would marry either Helvidius Flaccus, a tenant-farmer holding hisland under one of the Vedian clan near Reate, or Annius Largus, similarlya tenant of one of the Satronian properties. Although Helvidius was onGreia's side of our local feud, while Annius was on the other, idlers atReate were laying wagers that Annius would win Greia, considering him mostin her favor.

  "Recently, however, Greia had some sort of a quarrel with Annius, andannounced her intention of marrying Helvidius.

  "You must understand that Greia has the bes
t sort of reputation, isuniversally respected, and is greatly liked by all her neighbors andacquaintances and is popular in Reate.

  "Now, a day or two after the abduction which Bultius has narrated, Greiahad visited one of her farms and, towards dark, was returning home toReate in a two-wheeled gig driven by a slave of hers, a deaf-mute lad.What occurred can only be conjectured, as the deaf-mute cannot relate it,but, at all events, he was found insensible, bruised and bleeding, by theroad, apparently having been unmercifully beaten. Not far from him themule was grazing by the roadside, his harness in perfect condition and thegig unharmed. Greia, however, had vanished. No one had seen Annius in theneighborhood, yet it is generally assumed that he managed to abduct Greiain broad daylight without any one sighting him either coming or going:which, if the fact, would be an almost miraculous feat.

  "Certainly Greia has disappeared. The magistrates of Reate searchedAnnius' farmstead, but found neither Greia nor, indeed, any trace ofAnnius himself. It is conjectured that he is hiding, with Greia, at somefarm or villa under the Satronian protection. But there is no shadow ofany tangible basis for the conjecture, nor for the rumors, which, likethose concerning Xantha which Bultius had told you of, run all over thecountry-side; very similar rumors, too; for some are to the effect thatAnnius is holding Greia in durance at Villa Satronia; others that acortege of horsemen escorting a closed litter has been seen here or thereon some road; others that someone has learnt that Annius is about toattempt to reach Villa Satronia with Greia, convoyed by an escort of hisclansmen. The country-side buzzes with such whispers.

  "And let me point out to you, what you undoubtedly comprehend, thatserious as is the forcible abduction of a slave-girl, the abduction of afreewoman, even if a freedwoman, is a far more serious matter. Not only isHelvidius on fire to reclaim his bride and to revenge himself on Largus,not only are all his relations, friends and well-wishers eager to assisthim by every means in their power, not only are all right-thinking menincensed at the outrage, but the magistrates of Reate are determined tobring the guilty man to justice and to free Greia."

  Pomplio paused.

  "Very well told," was Tanno's comment, "and I comprehend far better thanyou perhaps imagine. Not only are the magistrates of Reate hot on thetrail of Annius and those of Trebula equally keen after Vedius Molo, butall Vedians are eager to shield Molo and to help catch and convict AnniusLargus, and all Satronians conversely doing all they can to shield Largusand get Molo. Oh, I twig! Moreover I realize that all Vedians regard theabduction of Greia as not so much a hot-headed folly of Largus as aSatronian retort to the abduction of Xantha; and conversely, allSatronians regard it as merely an insufficient counter to Xantha'sabduction. Oh, I comprehend the feud atmosphere. I have no doubt thatscores of poniards of the Vedian clan are sharp and daily sharpenedsharper, for use on Largus and as many Satronian dirks for use on Molo;that every road hereabouts has watchers posted along it; that bands oflusty lads are camped here and there waiting summonses or are actually inlikely ambushes by the roadsides. I foresee shindies of great amplitude.You need not say any more; neither of you need say any more; none of youneed say any more. In fact, I beg that the whole subject be dropped righthere. I comprehend the feud atmosphere and I don't want any more of it inthis _triclinium_. Let's forget or ignore the feud and enjoy Hedulio'sgood fare."

  His compelling personality exerted its magic, as usual. All six feudistsrelaxed. I could feel the social tension dissolve. We all felt relieved.

  By that time we had disposed of the fish and roasts, the boys had lightedthe hanging lamps and the standing lamps, had removed the tray with whatwe had left of the roasts and had brought in the third-course tray withthe birds and salads. As we sampled them Tanno remarked:

  "You have a cook, astonishingly good, Caius, for anywhere outside of Romeand amazingly good for a villa in the hills, far from a town. I must seeyour cook and question him. His roasts, his broiled, baked and frieddishes are above the averages, yet nothing wonderful. But his ragouts orfricassees or whatever you call them, are marvellous. This salmi of fig-peckers (or of some similar bird, for it is so ingeniously flavored andspiced, that I cannot be sure) is miraculous. There was a sort of chowder,too, of what fish I could not conjecture, which was so appetizing that Icould have gorged on it. Just as provocative and alluring was one of theconcoctions of the second course, apparently of lamb or kid, butindubitably a masterpiece. I certainly must see your cook."

  "My cook," I confessed, "was not the artist of the dishes you praise sohighly. Hereabouts we do not give them such high-sounding names as youapply to them, we call them hashes or stews. Ofatulena, the wife of myvilla-farm bailiff, devised them and prepared them. She is famoushereabouts for her cooking."

  "What," cried Tanno, "a woman cook! Never saw a woman cook, never heard ofone, never read of one. Egypt, Babylonia, Lydia, Persia, Greece and Italy,all cooks have always been men. I ought to know all about cookery, whatwith my library on cookery and my travels to all the cities famous forcookery. But you have taught me something novel and wholly unsuspected.Trot out your female cook. Let's have a look at her."

  I sent for Ofatulena and she came in, pleased and embarrassed, flushedbrick-red all over her full moon of a face, diffident and elated,trembling and giggling.

  Tanno questioned her and satisfied himself that she had prepared thedishes which had won his approbation and also that she was no hit-or-misscook, but a real artist in the kitchen, and really knew what she wasdoing.

  "Beware, Hedulio," he said as he dismissed her. "You Sabines will havethree abductions to gossip over if you do not look out. I'm half temptednow to suborn some of the riff-raff of the Subura to kidnap this miracle-worker of yours and hale her to Rome into my kitchen to amaze my guests."

  When she was gone he resumed:

  "Everything is topsy turvy in Sabinum, woman cooks and tenant farmers!What next? I gather that all of you, Satronians, Vedians and outsiders,have your estates parcelled out among free tenant farmers. Am I right?"

  Hirnio, Seclator and the rest assured him that he was right.

  "Well, then," he said, "tenant farming must be a subject perfectly safefor all persons present. Let's talk about it. Hedulio has tried to expoundto me the beauties of the system, but he had no great success. I fail sofar, to comprehend how the institution ever came into existence, why ithas maintained itself only in Sabinum and what are its advantages. Tell meabout it."

  Tanno had hit upon one of the few subjects on which all present feltconcordantly. His utterance started a hubbub, all my guests talking atonce, each trying to out-talk all the others and all voicing our localenthusiasm for our local farm-system. The _triclinium_ rang with paeans ofpraise of our Sabine yeomanry, and when the excitement had abated enoughto permit of intelligible discourse, Tanno was regaled with a series oftales illustrating the sterling worth of the Sabine yeomen, theirknowledge of farming, their diligence, their patience, their unflaggingenergy, their parsimony, their amazing productivity in respect to crop-yield, stock, implements and all things raised or made on their farms,their devotion to their landlords, the charm of the ties between thegentry and the yeomanry and the universal Sabine cult of the tenantsystem.

  With all this talk we lingered longer than usual over Ofatulena'sbewitching salads, which Tanno lauded even above her ragouts.

  When it was time for the last course, after the service-boys had slid thethird-course tray off the table, I was amazed to see my four strongesttable slaves enter fairly staggering under the load put upon them byGrandfather's biggest dinner-tray heaped with fruit, among which Idescried African pomegranates and other exotics. Still more was I amazedwhen other slaves crowded in behind them, carrying baskets of hot-housemelons of astonishing size and insistent perfume. Last of the processionwas Agathemer, who stood in the doorway, grinning and beaming.

  Tanno, not less than the guests in chorus, acclaimed this unexpectedprofusion.

  Again I looked interrogatively at Agathemer. He responded as at thecommencement of o
ur meal.

  "I have a note here," he said, "which I was enjoined not to hand you untilafter this fruit had been set upon your table."

  He handed me the missive, the superscription of which was, to myastonishment, in the handwriting of Satronius Dromo. While my fingerstugged at the thread, Tanno commanded:

  "Read it out loud at once, like the other. No secrets here. Let us allin."

  The letter began with all the traditional polite formalities, as had thatfrom Vedius. It read:

  "Satronius Dromo to his valued friend Andivius Hedulio. If you are well I am well also. I was writing at Villa Satronia on the day before the Nones of June. Some days before I had written you expressing my regret at the circumstances which prevented me from accepting your most welcome invitation to dine with you on the Nones. I intended dispatching to you, with this, what fruit my establishment has fit for your acceptance, which I ask of you, this fruit being sent as an earnest of my cordiality. When you are settled at Rome I beg that, when perfectly convenient to you, you convey my warmest regards to my cousin's widow, Vedia Venusta.

  "Farewell."

  At this letter I was fairly thunderstruck. That Satronius should take anynotice of me at all was more amazing than the graciousness of Vedius. Thathe should have ransacked the provinces and overstrained the capabilitiesof rowers and horseflesh to send me costly rarities out of season wasastounding. That his last sentence should practically duplicate the lastsentence of the letter from Vedius was most incredible of all. For if allVedians were sure to be very decidedly hypercritical as to anyone likelyto become Vedia's second husband, it was still more a certainty that theentire Satronian connection would scrutinize minutely everythingconcerning any man likely to come into control of the great propertieswhich she had inherited from her husband, Satronius Patavinus. That Ishould be disfavored by the entire Satronian connection had seemed to memore than likely. Dromo's intimation of his warm approval of my suit forVedia, coming on top of Caspo's, cleared of all obstacles my path towardsmatrimony with the woman of my heart's choice. I was more than elated, Iwas drunk with ecstacy.

  After I had finished reading, dead silence reigned in the _triclinium_;even Tanno was too dumbfounded to utter any sound.

  Hirnio spoke first.

  "Gentlemen," he said, "I beg of you to hear me out with attention. Likeour Caius here and like his hereditary antagonist, Ducconius Furfur, Ihave never taken sides in our age-long local feud. Like all outsiders andlike a majority of its partisans, I have grieved at its existence,deplored its unfortunate results and hoped for its extinction. I think Imay say with truth that there was not one inhabitant of this neighborhoodwho did not rejoice when the heads of the two families, with the abolitionof the feud and the creation of the permanent amity in view, arranged amarriage between the lovely daughter of the head of the northern branchof the Vedian House and the son of the northern branch of the SatronianHouse. Satronian or Vedian; freeman or slave, everyone was delighted atthe prospect of lasting harmony. The sudden death of Satronius Patavinusnot only blasted these hopes, but intensified antagonisms; for all theVedians felt that a daughter of the clan had been sacrificed in vain andall Satronians regretted that vast properties about Padua, long possessedby Satronians, passed by the will of her husband to a young widow, born ofthe Vedian House. All saw the prospect of exacerbated enmities and theirprobable results.

  "Now it must be apparent to you that the two letters which we have heardread would never have been written without their writers having consultedwith the heads of their respective houses. These letters are an intimationto our Caius that both her kinsmen and the kinsmen of her first husbandsmile upon his suit for the most lovely, the most charming and thewealthiest widow in Rome. This means, to a certainty, that both SatroniusSatro and Vedius Vedianus descry the possibility that Vedia's union with asecond husband acceptable to both clans and opposed to neither may workfor mitigation of the feud spirit and for establishment of harmoniousamity almost as powerfully as would have the permanency of her membershipof the Satronian clan. I conceive that all of us, outsiders and partisans,may congratulate Caius without reservation or afterthought, heartily andenthusiastically."

  To this all present agreed in chorus, all drank my health.

  Vulso, rather hesitatingly, spoke next.

  "As all we say here," he began, "is under the rose and will not berepeated or hinted at, I do not mind saying that I feel as does Hirnio."

  To this Rusco and Naepor agreed, with less hesitancy.

  Similarly the three Satronians expressed their concurrence.

  Again they all congratulated me on my luck, drank to the success of mysuit, and to my prosperity and health.

  Complete harmony reigned and the strained social atmosphere attending adinner in the feud area vanished completely.

  By this time the moon, which was nearly full, was high enough to bathe theworld with silvery light. Tanno peering across the table and through thewindows, remarked:

  "You have a fine prospect, Caius. I admired it when I first lay down, butour interest in the flowers and in your letter from Vedius diverted myintention to speak of it. It is a charming outlook even by moonlight."

  "Yes," I admitted, with not a little pride. "Grandfather, of course, dinedearlier than is fashionable nowadays. He built this _triclinium_ so thathe could bask in the rays of the declining sun and could watch the sunsetcolors as they varied and deepened. My uncle used to dine as early as hisfather and, even in the hottest weather, enjoyed the direct rays of thesun on him as he dined, for he was always rheumatic and chilly, yet heenjoyed the beauty of the view even more."

  "It is charming even by moonlight," Tanno repeated, "and that although thevilla is between our outlook and the moon, so its shadow darkens thenearer prospect."

  We all contemplated the view through the window. "Who are those men I seejust beyond the shadow of the house?" Tanno queried. "Quite an assemblage,it seems to me; almost a mob for these lonely districts."

  I looked where he indicated and could not conjecture what it was that Isaw.