“Nay, pardon, my lord!” entreated the other, forgetting all else in his dread of losing his place. “Pardon and grace, my lord and god, I beseech thee. Do not withdraw thy favors from the most faithful of thy servants.” “Yes, my lord and god,” added Parthenius, the chamberlain. “Forgive us, for nothing but reverence and consternation could have betrayed us into such a crime. Do not let it spoil a jovial night. It is the first time for long, that we have wandered through the streets in disguise, and shall a spiteful accident....” “You are right,” interrupted the Emperor. “I was in the best of humors....” “Then bid it return. Even his moods must surely obey the sovereign, whose sway extends over the whole world....” “Curse it all! To think that of all women in the world.... Cinna’s niece?... I did not even know, that the old fool had a niece. Whose house had she come out of?” “That of Barbillus, the priest of Isis.” “Ah ha! One of the praying ninnies, that the juggler knows how to beguile so well! Capital! The girl pleases me. I should like--if it were only to spite the old curmudgeon--I hate Cinna like poison. He wants a lesson--he always carries his head as high as a conqueror in a triumph. As if it were not in my power to see those haughty iron features flung in the dust at my feet--Parthenius, we will talk of that, again. But now, away with all gloomy reflections, and long live folly!” “Thanks, all thanks!” cried Clodianus, kissing the sovereign’s hand. “Pull the hood over my face, so--now my cloak over my chin--and we will go back into the streets. I should like to see the man, who can discover Caesar in such a guise. We must find an adventure yet, Parthenius--[259] some mad and absurd diversion, if it were only that the lips, which pronounce the fate of nations, should kiss some swarthy negress.”[260] He led the way, and the others followed. Domitian did not see how his companions clenched their fists under their cloaks, nor hear the bitter curses, hardly uttered by their quivering lips. FOOTNOTES: [252] THE BACK DOOR. (_Posticum_) was the name given to the little door, leading from the back of the cavaedium or peristyle to the street. [253] PERFUME OF INCENSE. Incense (_thus_) was generally used not only in the temple of Isis, but at the ceremonies attending the offering of sacrifices in the Roman national worship. It was the resin from an Arabian tree, and the so-called liquid incense was considered the best. [254] FIRST-BORN OF THE AGES. The invocation to the goddess Isis is partly borrowed from the metamorphoses of Appuleius (XI, 5) where the goddess calls herself: “first-born of all the centuries, highest of the gods, queen of the Manes, princess of the heavenly powers,” etc., repeating the names under which she is revered throughout the world.