later, when he
ceased to love. Others made him what he is--yes, others--and Poppaea."

Here her eyelids filled with tears. Lygia followed her for some time
with her blue eyes, and asked at last,--"Art thou sorry for him, Acte?"

"I am sorry for him!" answered the Grecian, with a low voice. And
again she began to walk, her hands clinched as if in pain, and her face
without hope.

"Dost thou love him yet, Acte?" asked Lygia, timidly.

"I love him."

And after a while she added,--"No one loves him but me."

Silence followed, during which Acte strove to recover her calmness,
disturbed by memories; and when at length her face resumed its usual
look of calm sorrow, she said,--

"Let us speak of thee, Lygia. Do not even think of opposing Caesar; that
would be madness. And be calm. I know this house well, and I judge that
on Caesar's part nothing threatens thee. If Nero had given command
to take thee away for himself, he would not have brought thee to the
Palatine. Here Poppaea rules; and Nero, since she bore him a daughter, is
more than ever under her influence. No, Nero gave command, it is true,
that thou shouldst be at the feast, but he has not seen thee yet; he
has not inquired about thee, hence he does not care about thee. Maybe he
took thee from Aulus and Pomponia only through anger at them. Petronius
wrote me to have care of thee; and since Pomponia too wrote, as thou
knowest, maybe they had an understanding. Maybe he did that at her
request. If this be true, if he at the request of Pomponia will occupy
himself with thee, nothing threatens thee; and who knows if Nero may not
send thee back to Aulus at his persuasion? I know not whether Nero loves
him over much, but I know that rarely has he the courage to be of an
opinion opposite to his."

"Ah, Acte!" answered Lygia; "Petronius was with us before they took
me, and my mother was convinced that Nero demanded my surrender at his
instigation."

"That would be bad," said Acte. But she stopped for a while, and then
said,--"Perhaps Petronius only said, in Nero's presence at some supper,
that he saw a hostage of the Lygians at Aulus's, and Nero, who is
jealous of his own power, demanded thee only because hostages belong to
Caesar. But he does not like Aulus and Pomponia. No! it does not seem to
me that if Petronius wished to take thee from Aulus he would use such a
method. I do not know whether Petronius is better than others of Caesar's
court, but he is different.