m so
hastily, you would have been present at a very serious riot, that was
with great difficulty put down. The soldiers of the royal garrison are
in an ugly mood, and so are the people. I suspect the king, or rather
Pothinus, is doing nothing to quiet them. There have been slight riots
for several days past, and a good many Roman soldiers who have
straggled away from the palace into the lower quarters of the city
have been murdered."

"I am glad," replied Drusus, "that I can leave Cornelia and my aunt
under your protection, for my duty may keep me continuously with the
Imperator."

The young officer at once hastened to the palace and reported for
service. Caesar questioned him as to the situation at Pelusium, and
Drusus described the unpromising attitude of Pothinus, and also
mentioned how he had found Cornelia and his aunt.

The general, engrossed as he was with his business of state and
threatening war, put all his duties aside and at once went to the
house of Cleomenes. It was the first time Cornelia had ever met the
man whose career had exerted such an influence upon her own life. She
had at first known of him only through the filthy, slanderous verses
of such oligarchs as Catullus and Calvus; then through her lover she
had come to look upon Caesar as an incarnation as it were of
omniscience, omnipotence, and benevolence--the man for whom everything
was worth sacrificing, from whom every noble thing was to be expected.

She met the conquerer of Ariovistus, Vercingetorix, and Pompeius like
the frank-hearted, patrician maiden that she was, without shyness,
without servility.

"My father died in your army," she said on meeting; "my affianced
husband has taught me to admire you, as he himself does. Let us be
friends!"

And Caesar bowed as became the polished gentleman, who had been the
centre of the most brilliant salons of Rome, and took the hand she
offered, and replied:--

"Ah! Lady Cornelia, we have been friends long, though never we met
before! But I am doubly the friend of whosoever is the friend of
Quintus Livius Drusus."

Whereupon Cornelia was more completely the vassal of the Imperator
than ever, and words flew fast between them. In short, just as in the
case with Cleopatra, she opened her heart before she knew that she had
said anything, and told of all her life, with its shadows and
brightness; and Caesar listened and sympathized as might a father; and
Drusus perfectly realized, if Cornelia could