he said,--"Pardon me; I love her, and love is disturbing
my faculties."

"Look at me, Marcus. The day before yesterday I spoke to Caesar as
follows: 'My sister's son, Vinicius, has so fallen in love with a lean
little girl who is being reared with the Auluses that his house is
turned into a steambath from sighs. Neither thou, O Caesar, nor I--we who
know, each of us, what true beauty is--would give a thousand sesterces
for her; but that lad has ever been as dull as a tripod, and now he has
lost all the wit that was in him.'"

"Petronius!"

"If thou understand not that I said this to insure Lygia's safety, I am
ready to believe that I told the truth. I persuaded Bronzebeard that a
man of his aesthetic nature could not consider such a girl beautiful; and
Nero, who so far has not dared to look otherwise than through my eyes,
will not find in her beauty, and, not finding it, will not desire her.
It was necessary to insure ourselves against the monkey and take him
on a rope. Not he, but Poppaea, will value Lygia now; and Poppaea will
strive, of course, to send the girl out of the palace at the earliest.
I said further to Bronzebeard, in passing: 'Take Lygia and give her to
Vinicius! Thou hast the right to do so, for she is a hostage; and if
thou take her, thou wilt inflict pain on Aulus.' He agreed; he had not
the least reason not to agree, all the more since I gave him a chance
to annoy decent people. They will make thee official guardian of the
hostage, and give into thy hands that Lygian treasure; thou, as a friend
of the valiant Lygians, and also a faithful servant of Caesar, wilt not
waste any of the treasure, but wilt strive to increase it. Caesar, to
preserve appearances, will keep her a few days in his house, and then
send her to thy insula. Lucky man!"

"Is this true? Does nothing threaten her there in Caesar's house?"

"If she had to live there permanently, Poppaea would talk about her to
Locusta, but for a few days there is no danger. Ten thousand people
live in it. Nero will not see her, perhaps, all the more since he left
everything to me, to the degree that just now the centurion was here
with information that he had conducted the maiden to the palace and
committed her to Acte. She is a good soul, that Acte; hence I gave
command to deliver Lygia to her. Clearly Pomponia Graecina is of that
opinion too, for she wrote to Acte. To-morrow there is a feast at
Nero's. I have requested a place for thee at the sid