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Home -> Henryk Sienkiewicz -> Quo Vadis -> Chapter XXXIV

Quo Vadis - Chapter XXXIV

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter II

3. Chapter III

4. Chapter IV

5. Chapter V

6. Chapter VI

7. Chapter VII

8. Chapter VIII

9. Chapter IX

10. Chapter X

11. Chapter XI

12. Chapter XII

13. Chapter XIII

14. Chapter XIV

15. Chapter XV

16. Chapter XVI

17. Chapter XVII

18. Chapter XVIII

19. Chapter XIX

20. Chapter XX

21. Chapter XXI

22. Chapter XXII

23. Chapter XXIII

24. Chapter XXIV

25. Chapter XXV

26. Chapter XXVI

27. Chapter XXVII

28. Chapter XXVIII

29. Chapter XXIX

30. Chapter XXX

31. Chapter XXXI

32. Chapter XXXII

33. Chapter XXXIII

34. Chapter XXXIV

35. Chapter XXXV

36. Chapter XXXVI

37. Chapter XXXVII

38. Chapter XXXVIII

39. Chapter XXXIX

40. Chapter XL

41. Chapter XLI

42. Chapter XLII

43. Chapter XLIII

44. Chapter XLIV

45. Chapter XLV

46. Chapter XLVI

47. Chapter XLVII

48. Chapter XLVIII

49. Chapter XLIX

50. Chapter L

51. Chapter LI

52. Chapter LII

53. Chapter LIII

54. Chapter LIV

55. Chapter LV

56. Chapter LVI

57. Chapter LVII

58. Chapter LVIII

59. Chapter LIX

60. Chapter LX

61. Chapter LXI

62. Chapter LXII

63. Chapter LXIII

64. Chapter LXIV

65. Chapter LXV

66. Chapter LXVI

67. Chapter LXVII

68. Chapter LXVIII

69. Chapter LXIX

70. Chapter LXX

71. Chapter LXXI

72. Chapter LXXII

73. Chapter LXXIII

74. Epilogue







Chapter XXXIV

WHILE walking with Lygia through the garden, Vinicius described briefly,
in words from the depth of his heart, that which a short time before he
had confessed to the Apostles,--that is, the alarm of his soul, the
changes which had taken place in him, and, finally, that immense
yearning which had veiled life from him, beginning with the hour when he
left Miriam's dwelling. He confessed to Lygia that he had tried to
forget her, but was not able. He thought whole days and nights of her.
That little cross of boxwood twigs which she had left reminded him of
her,--that cross, which he had placed in the lararium and revered
involuntarily as something divine. And he yearned more and more every
moment, for love was stronger than he, and had seized his soul
altogether, even when he was at the house of Aulus. The Parcæ weave the
thread of life for others; but love, yearning, and melancholy had woven
it for him. His acts had been evil, but they had their origin in love.
He had loved her when she was in the house of Aulus, when she was on the
Palatine, when he saw her in Ostrianum listening to Peter's words, when
he went with Croton to carry her away, when she watched at his bedside,
and when she deserted him. Then came Chilo, who discovered her
dwelling, and advised him to seize her a second time; but he chose to
punish Chilo, and go to the Apostles to ask for truth and for her. And
blessed be that moment in which such a thought came to his head, for now
he is at her side, and she will not flee from him, as the last time she
fled from the house of Miriam.

"I did not flee from thee," said Lygia.

"Then why didst thou go?"

She raised her iris-colored eyes to him, and, bending her blushing face,
said,--"Thou knowest--"

Vinicius was silent for a moment from excess of happiness, and began
again to speak, as his eyes were opened gradually to this,--that she was
different utterly from Roman women, and resembled Pomponia alone.
Besides, he could not explain this to her clearly, for he could not
define his feeling,--that beauty of a new kind altogether was coming to
the world in her, such beauty as had not been in it thus far; beauty
which is not merely a statue, but a spirit. He told her something,
however, which filled her with delight,--that he loved her just because
she had fled from him, and that she would be sacred to him at his
hearth. Then, seizing her hand, he could not continue; he merely gazed
on her with rapture as on his life's happiness which he had won, and
repeated her name, as if to assure himself that he had found her and was
near her.

"Oh, Lygia, Lygia!"

At last he inquired what had taken place in her mind, and she confessed
that she had loved him while in the house of Aulus, and that if he had
taken her back to them from the Palatine she would have told them of her
love and tried to soften their anger against him.

"I swear to thee," said Vinicius, "that it had not even risen in my mind
to take thee from Aulus. Petronius will tell thee sometime that I told
him then how I loved and wished to marry thee. 'Let her anoint my door
with wolf fat, and let her sit at my hearth,' said I to him. But he
ridiculed me, and gave Cæsar the idea of demanding thee as a hostage and
giving thee to me. How often in my sorrow have I cursed him; but
perhaps fate ordained thus, for otherwise I should not have known the
Christians, and should not have understood thee."

"Believe me, Marcus," replied Lygia, "it was Christ who led thee to
Himself by design."

Vinicius raised his head with a certain astonishment.

"True," answered he, with animation. "Everything fixed itself so
marvellously that in seeking thee I met the Christians. In Ostrianum I
listened to the Apostle with wonder, for I had never heard such words.
And there thou didst pray for me?"

"I did," answered Lygia.

They passed near the summer-house covered with thick ivy, and approached
the place where Ursus, after stifling Croton, threw himself upon
Vinicius.

"Here," said the young man, "I should have perished but for thee."

"Do not mention that," answered Lygia, "and do not speak of it to
Ursus."

"Could I be revenged on him for defending thee? Had he been a slave, I
should have given him freedom straightway."

"Had he been a slave, Aulus would have freed him long ago."

"Dost thou remember," asked Vinicius, "that I wished to take thee back
to Aulus, but the answer was, that Cæsar might hear of it and take
revenge on Aulus and Pomponia? Think of this: thou mayst see them now
as often as thou wishest."

"How, Marcus?"

"I say 'now,' and I think that thou wilt be able to see them without
danger, when thou art mine. For should Cæsar hear of this, and ask what
I did with the hostage whom he gave me, I should say 'I married her, and
she visits the house of Aulus with my consent.' He will not remain long
in Antium, for he wishes to go to Achæa; and even should he remain, I
shall not need to see him daily. When Paul of Tarsus teaches me your
faith, I will receive baptism at once, I will come here, gain the
friendship of Aulus and Pomponia, who will return to the city by that
time, and there will be no further hindrance, I will seat thee at my
hearth. Oh, carissima! carissima!"

And he stretched forth his hand, as if taking Heaven as witness of his
love; and Lygia, raising her clear eyes to him, said,--

"And then I shall say, 'Wherever thou art, Caius, there am I, Caia.'"

"No, Lygia," cried Vinicius, "I swear to thee that never has woman been
so honored in the house of her husband as thou shalt be in mine."

For a time they walked on in silence, without being able to take in with
their breasts their happiness, in love with each other, like two
deities, and as beautiful as if spring had given them to the world with
the flowers.

They halted at last under the cypress growing near the entrance of the
house. Lygia leaned against his breast, and Vinicius began to entreat
again with a trembling voice,--"Tell Ursus to go to the house of Aulus
for thy furniture and playthings of childhood."

But she, blushing like a rose or like the dawn, answered,--"Custom
commands otherwise."

"I know that. The pronuba [The matron who accompanies the bride and
explains to her the duties of a wife] usually brings them behind the
bride, but do this for me. I will take them to my villa in Antium, and
they will remind me of thee."

Here he placed his hands together and repeated, like a child who is
begging for something,--"It will be some days before Pomponia returns;
so do this, diva, do this, carissima."

"But Pomponia will do as she likes," answered Lygia, blushing still more
deeply at mention of the pronuba.

And again they were silent, for love had begun to stop the breath in
their breasts. Lygia stood with shoulders leaning against the cypress,
her face whitening in the shadow, like a flower, her eyes drooping, her
bosom heaving with more and more life. Vinicius changed in the face,
and grew pale. In the silence of the afternoon they only heard the
beating of their hearts, and in their mutual ecstasy that cypress, the
myrtle bushes, and the ivy of the summer-house became for them a
paradise of love. But Miriam appeared in the door, and invited them to
the afternoon meal. They sat down then with the Apostles, who gazed at
them with pleasure, as on the young generation which after their death
would preserve and sow still further the seed of the new faith. Peter
broke and blessed bread. There was calm on all faces, and a certain
immense happiness seemed to overflow the whole house.

"See," said Paul at last, turning to Vinicius, "are we enemies of life
and happiness?"

"I know how that is," answered Vinicius, "for never have I been so happy
as among you."




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