274 The Arch-Druid : [SEPT. 



At the close of the banquet, the flavour of whose viands so Vitellius 

 assured the Dacian, who reclined on the same couch beside him would 

 linger for weeks on his palate, a band of female dancers entered the hall, 

 and, at a given signal from the empress, went through a series of move- 

 ments, which, set off by the arch seductive beauty of the fair figurantes, 

 who were mostly young girls from Lesbos, by their flashing eyes, 

 instinct with fire and passion ; their snowy, swan-like necks ; their 

 sunny, chestnut tresses, soft as silk, and luxuriant as the clustering ten- 

 drils of the vine ; the quick, airy glancings of their taper feet and ankles; 

 and, more than all, by the slight undulating garments, which, revealing 

 the exquisite outline of their figures, gave a partial glimpse also of the 

 more mysterious charms they were meant to hide ; the movements of 

 these Lesbian Circes, thus variously embellished, thrilled the souls of 

 all who gazed on them with that voluptuous sensibility which sometimes 

 overflows the spirit in the hour of dreams. 



Sergius himself caught the contagion of the scene, and for awhile, like 

 Hercules in the presence of Omphale, foreswore his hopes of glory. A 

 moment served to dispel the illusion. On casting his eyes towards the 

 throne where the empress sat, he suddenly encountered a face which at 

 once riveted his gaze. The countenance was that of a female. It was 

 pale as death, of a stern, commanding, but melancholy expression. The 

 brow was lofty, and full of intelligence ; the lip curled, as if in scorn ; 

 and the fixed dark eye, as it fell with strangely malignant meaning on 

 the astonished Dacian, awoke in his breast certain recollections for 

 which he could not at the moment account. In vain he strove to avert 

 his gaze. The stranger's eye was on him like a spell. Bursting at 

 length with desperate effort from the malign talisman, <c Who, in the 

 name of Mars/' said he to Vitellius, " is that woman ? I have surely 



seen her before ; where, I cannot just now Ah ! it is Cartismandua. 



What does she here ? Tell me, Vitellius you, who know every one 

 about the court." 



The epicure turned his eyes in the direction which Sergius pointed out. 



" It is, indeed, the Queen of the Silures," was the reply, " who, as I 

 am informed, came over here a few weeks since from Britain. Her tale 

 is somewhat singular. In early life she was sent to Rome for her educa- 

 tion, where she contrived to gain the good opinion of Messalina, whom 

 in her stern impassioned turn of mind she not a little resembles. She 

 remained here about three years, and on her return to Britain mar- 

 ried a prince of the Silures (by-the-by, you should know more about 

 this barbarian than I can tell you), whose tribes, by their active 

 system of warfare, occasioned Claudius much annoyance, when he 

 personally headed an expedition against the western provinces. Still, 

 notwithstanding her husband's hostility, Cartismandua, as you perceive, 

 has contrived to preserve her favour with the empress and the court." 



" But surely Claudius must be aware, even from the official accounts 

 that I myself transmitted to him, that this very woman was for a 

 time one of the chief obstacles to the success of the Roman arms V 



" The emperor knows nothing, and I believe cares as little, about 

 Cartismandua, but that she is a very fine woman, and a favourite with 

 Messalina, who, whether rightly or otherwise, has led him to believe 

 that the fair barbarian is a friend to the Romans. Indeed, Cartisman- 

 dua herself has renounced the throne of the Silures, confessed allegiance 

 to the emperor, and publicly declared that she is wholly averse to the 

 late insurrection of her subjects." 



