“How happy thy brother is!” said Agrippina to Drusus, rising from her couch. As she walked towards the stairs, she added: “Cultivate a happy nature, my son. ’Twill help thee overcome burdensome grief.” “Verily, I will try, O best of mothers,” he said as she disappeared. Left alone, Drusus threw himself on his mother’s couch. The thought of the disappearance of his favorite charioteer was uppermost in his mind. Many times he had sat on the pulvinar before the palace of Augustus, and had watched the horse-races in the Circus Maximus. With youthful enthusiasm he had regarded Gyges as a hero. He had even entered the stables and talked with him. “What will the green faction do without him?” he thought. But his meditations were checked by the entrance of Sejanus. “Hail, Sejanus!” he said, as he sprang from the couch. “Hail to thee, O son of Germanicus!” said Sejanus. “Where is thy mother?” “With Nero,” replied the lad. “He is thy mother’s favorite son,” said Sejanus, as he watched the face of Drusus. “Ay; Nero is loved by us all.” “By thee, too?” asked the minister, craftily trying to sow seeds of envy in the heart of Drusus. “Ay, by me too! Why not?” “He loves thee not,” answered Sejanus. “How knowest thou that?” demanded Drusus. “He told me but this morning that thou art slow and easily imposed upon,” replied Sejanus, contemptuously. “Nero said that!” said Drusus, with a cry of surprise. “Ay; that and more,” continued Sejanus. “But I do not wish to breed enmity between brothers.” “What more has he said about me?” commanded Drusus, angrily. “He says thou wilt never be a man,” replied the wily Sejanus. “And why?” asked Drusus, flushed with anger. “Be not angry if I tell thee.” “Nay, O Sejanus.” “He says thou art advised too much by thy mother.” “No one seeks her counsel more than he does,” cried Drusus. “Princes of the blood of the Divine Augustus should receive counsel from statesmen,” slyly suggested the minister. “I do not agree with thee, Sejanus. The emperor has always been guided by his mother, Livia.” “True,” said Sejanus, for a moment caught in bad reasoning by the answer of Drusus. He quickly added, “But Nero said other things about thee.” Before Drusus could reply they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. A soldier entered. Seeing Sejanus and Drusus, he said in a loud tone, “Nero and Drusus are ordered by the emperor to appear at once in the Temple of Concord.” “What ho, Nero!” cried Drusus, calling up the stairs. “Come hither immediately!” A few moments after Nero appeared, followed by Agrippina. “Hail to thee, O noble Agrippina, and to thee again, O Nero!” said Sejanus, greeting them. “What message hast thou brought, O Sejanus?” asked Agrippina. “Thou and I, my brother, are ordered by the emperor to appear immediately in the Temple of Concord. Come, let us go!” said Drusus. “New honors may befall ye both,” said Sejanus, as the two youths quickly left the room.