CHAPTER VIII

AN ITALIAN NIGHT

The palace of Theodora on Mount Aventine was aglow with life and

movement for the festivities of the evening. The lights of countless

cressets were reflected from the marble floor of the great reception

hall and shone on the rich panelling, and the many-hued tapestries

which decked the walls.

In the shadow of the little marble kiosk which rose, a relic of a

happier age, among oleander and myrtles, shadowed by tall cypresses,

silent guardians of the past, Theodora and Basil faced each other.

The white, livid face of the man gave testimony to the passions that

consumed him, as his burning gaze swept the woman before him.

"I have spoken, my Lord Basil! Should some unforeseen mischance befall

him I have summoned hither, look to it that I require not his blood at

your hands."

Theodora's tone silenced all further questioning. After a pause she

continued: "And if you desire farther proof that this man shall not

stand against my enchantments, pass into yonder kiosk and through its

carven windows shall you be able to witness all that passes between us."

She ceased with quivering lips, the while Basil regarded her from under

half-shut lids, filled with sudden brooding, and for a space there was

silence. At last he said in a low, unsteady voice:

"So I did not err when my hatred rose against this puppet of the

Senator's, who came to Rome to do penance for a kiss. You love him,

your foe, while I, your utter slave, must stand by and, with aching

heart, see your mad desire bring all our schemes to naught."

His hand closed on his dagger hilt, but Theodora's eyes flashed like

bared swords as with set face she said:

"Fool!--to see but that which lies in your path, not the intricate nets

which are spread in the darkness. I mean to make this man my very own!

His fevered lips shall close on mine, and in my embrace he shall climb

to the heaven of the Gods. He shall be mine! He shall do my bidding

utterly. He shall open for me the gates of the Emperor's Tomb. He shall

stand beside me when I am proclaimed mistress of Rome! For my love he

shall defy the world that is--and the world that is not."

"And what of the woman he loves?" Basil snarled venomously, and the

pallor of Theodora's face informed him that the arrow he had sped had

hit the mark.

She held out her wonderful statuesque arms, then, raising herself to

her full height, she said:

"Is the pale woman from his native land a match for me? What rare sport

it shall be to make of this Hellayne a mock, and of her name a memory,

and put Theodora's in its high place. Do you doubt my power to do as I

say?"

"Verily I do believe that you love this pilgrim," Basil said sullenly.

"And while I am preparing the quake that shall tumble Alberic's

dominion into dust and oblivion, you are making him the happiest of

mortals. And deem you I will stand by and see yon dotard reap the

fruits of my endeavors and revel where I, your slave, am starving for a

look?"

"Well have you chosen the word, my lord--my slave! For then were

Theodora indeed the puppet of a lust-bitten subject did she heed his

mad ravings and his idle plaints. Know, my lord, that my love is his to

whom I choose to give it, his who gives to me that in return which I

desire. And though I have drunk deep of the goblet of passion, never

has my heart beat one jot the faster, nor has the fire in my soul been

kindled until I met him whom this night I have summoned."

"And deem you, fairest Theodora, that the sainted pilgrim will come?"

Basil interposed with an evil leer.

An inscrutable smile curved Theodora's crimson lips.

"Let that be my affair, my lord, but--that everything may be clear

between us--know this: when I summoned him, after he had spurned me on

the night when I intended to make him the happiest of men, it was to

torture him, to make a mock of him, to arouse his passions till they

overmastered all else, till in very truth he forgot his God, his honor,

and the woman for whose kisses he does such noble penance--but now--"

"But now?" came the echo from Basil's lips.

"Who says I shall not?" Theodora replied with her inscrutable smile.

"Who shall gainsay me? You--my lord?"

There was a strange light in Basil's eyes, kindled by her mockery.

"And when he kneels at your feet, drunk with passion--laying bare

his soul in his mad infatuation--who shall prevent this dagger from

drinking his heart's blood, even as he peers into the portals of bliss?"

Theodora's eyes flashed lightnings.

"I shall kill you with my own hands, if you but dare but touch one hair

of his head," she said with a calm that was more terrible than any

outburst of rage would have been. "He is mine, to do with as I choose,

and look well to it, my lord, that your shadow darken not the path

between us.--Else I shall demand of you such a reckoning as none who

may hear of it in after days shall dare thwart Theodora--either in love

or in hate."

Basil's writhing form swayed to and fro; passion-tossed he tried in

vain to speak when she raised her hand.

With a gesture of baffled wrath and rage Basil bowed low. A sudden

light leaped into his eyes as he raised her hand to his lips. Then he

retreated into the shadow of the kiosk.

A moment later Tristan came within view, walking as one in a trance.

Mechanically he passed towards the banquet hall. Then he paused,

seeming to wait for some signal from within.

A hand stole into his and drew him resistlessly into the shadows.

"Why do you linger here? Behold where the moonlight calls."

"Where is your mistress?" Tristan turned to the Circassian.

A strange smile played on Persephoné's lips.

"She awaits you in yonder kiosk," she replied, edging close to him.

"Take care you do not thwart her though--for to-day she strikes to

kill."

"It is well," Tristan replied. "It must come, and will be no more

torture now than any other time."

Persephoné gave a strange smile, then she led him through a cypress

avenue, at the remote end of which the marble kiosk gleamed white in

the moonlight.

Pointing to it with white outstretched arm she gave him a mock bow and

returned to the palace.

His lips grimly set, Tristan, insensible to the beauty of the summer

night, strode down the flower-bordered path. Woven sheets of silvery

moonlight, insubstantial and unreal, lay upon the greensward. The

sounds of distant lutes and harps sank down through the hot air. The

sky was radiant with the magic lustre of a great white moon, suspended

like an alabaster lamp in the deep azure overhead. Her rays invaded the

sombre bosquets, lighted the trellised rose-walks and cast into bold

relief against the deep shadows of palm and ilex many feathery fountain

sprays, crowning flower-filled basins of alabaster with whispering

coolness.

The path was strewn with powdered sea shells and bordered on either

side with rare plants, filling the air with exquisite perfume. Between

thickets of yellow tufted mimosa and leafy bowers of acacia shimmered

the crystal surface of the marble cinctured lake, tinted with pale gold

and shrouded by pearl-hued vapors.--Pink and white myrtles, golden-hued

jonquils, rainbow tinted chrysanthema, purple rhododendrons, iris,

lilac and magnolia mingled their odors in an almost disconcerting orgy,

and rare orchids raised their glowing petals with tropical gorgeousness

from vases of verdigris bronze in the moonlight.

At the entrance of the marble kiosk, there stood the immobile form of a

woman, half hidden behind a cluster of blooming orchids.

The silver light of the moon fell upon the pale features of Theodora.

Her gaze was fixed upon the dark avenue of cypress trees, through which

Tristan was swiftly approaching.

She stood there waiting for him, clad in misty white, like the

moonbeams, yet the byssus of her garb was no whiter than was the throat

that rose from the faultless trunk of her body, no whiter than her

wonderful hands and arms.

Tristan's lips tightened. He had come to claim the scarf and dagger.

To-night should end it all. There was no place in his life for this

woman whose beauty would be the undoing of him who gave himself up to

its fatal spell.

As he stood before her, a gleam of moonlight on his broad shoulders,

Theodora felt the blood recede to her heart, the while she gazed on his

set, yet watchful face. His silence seemed to numb her faculties and

her voice sounded strange as, extending her hand, she said:

"Welcome, my Lord Tristan."

He bowed low, barely touching the soft white fingers.

"The Lady Theodora has been pleased to summon me and I have obeyed. I

am here to claim the dagger which was taken from me and the scarf of

blue samite."

Theodora glanced at him for a moment, the blood drumming in her ears

and driving a coherent answer from her mind, while Tristan met her gaze

without flinching, with the memory of Hellayne in his heart.

"Presently will I reveal this matter to you, my Lord Tristan," she said

at last. "Meanwhile sit you here beside me--for the night is hot, and I

have waited long for your coming."

For a moment Tristan hesitated, then he took his seat beside her on the

marble bench, his brain afire, as he mused on all the treachery her

soft bosom held.

"You look strangely at me, Tristan," she said in a low tone, dropping

all formality, "almost as if it gave you pain to sit beside me. Yet I

cannot think that a man like you has never rested beside a beautiful

woman in an hour of solitude and passion."

A laugh, soft as the music of the Castalian fountain, fell on Tristan's

ear, but as he sat without answer, she continued, her face very close

to his:

"Strange, indeed, my words may sound in your ears, Tristan--and

yet--can it be that you are blind as well as deaf to the call of the

Goddess of Love, who rules us all?"

She paused, her lips ajar, her eyes alight with a strange fire, such

as he had seen therein on the night in the sunken gardens, beyond the

glimmering lake.

"And what have I to give to you, Lady Theodora," he said at length.

"What can you expect from me, the giving of which would not turn my

honor to disgrace and my strength to water?"

At his words she rose up and, towering her glorious womanhood above

him, glided behind the marble bench and, leaning hot hands upon his

shoulders, bent low her head, till strands of perfumed hair rested on

his tense features.

"Do you love power, Tristan?" she said with low, yet vibrant voice.

"I tell you that, if you give yourself to me, there are no heights to

which the lover of Theodora may not climb. The way lies open from camp

to palace, from sword to sceptre, and, though the aim be high, at

least it is worth the risk. Steep is the path, but, though attainment

seems impossible, I tell you it is the wings of love that shall raise

you and bid you soar to flights of glory and rapture. I offer you

a kingdom, if you will but lay your sword at my feet and yet more

besides, for, Tristan, I offer you myself."

The perfumed head bent lower and the scented cloud fell more thickly

upon him as he sat there, dazed and enchanted out of all powers of

resistance by the misty sapphire eyes that gleamed amid it, and seemed

to drag his soul from out of him. Now his head was pillowed on her soft

bosom and her white arms were about him, while lingering kisses burnt

on his unresponsive lips, when suddenly she faced round with a cry,

for there, directly before them in the clearing, stood a woman, whose

gleaming white robe, untouched by any color, save that of the violet

band that bound it round her shoulders, seemed one with the sun-kissed

hair, tied into a simple knot.

Hellayne stood there as if deprived of motion, her blue eyes wide with

horror and pain, her curved lips parted, as if to speak, though no

sound came from them, until Tristan turned and, as their glances met,

he gave a strangled groan and buried his face in his hands.

Theodora stood immobile, with blazing eyes and terrible face, then

she clapped her hands twice and at the sound two eunuchs appeared and

stood motionless awaiting their mistress' behest. For apace there was

silence, while Theodora glanced from the one to the other, quivering

from head to foot with the violence of the passion that possessed her,

casting anon a glance at Tristan who stood silent, with bowed head.

At length she glided up to him and, as she laid her two white hands on

his broad shoulders, Tristan shuddered and felt a longing to make an

end of all her evil beauty and devilish cunning. Then, deliberately,

she took the scarf of blue samite, which lay beside her and put her

foot upon it.

"This is very precious to you, Tristan, is it not?" she said in her

sweet voice, while her witching eyes sank into his. "I was about to

tell you how you might serve me, and deserve all the happiness that

is in store for you when I was interrupted by the appearance of this

woman. Can you tell me, who she is, and why she is regarding you so

strangely?"

As she spoke she turned slowly towards Hellayne whose face was pale as

death.

A spasm of rage shook Tristan, at the sight of the woman who regarded

him out of wide, pitiful eyes, but even as he longed to pierce the

heart of her who was striving to wreck all he held dear, Odo of Cluny's

warning seemed to clear his brain of the rage and hate that was

clouding it, and in that instant he knew, if he played his part, he

held in his hand the last throw in the dread game, of which Rome was

the pawn.

"In all things will I do your bidding, Lady Theodora,--for who can

withstand your beauty and your enchantment?" said a voice that seemed

not part of himself.

Theodora turned to Hellayne.

"You have heard the words the Lord Tristan has spoken," she said in

veiled tone of mockery. "Tell me now, did you not know that I was

engaged upon matters of state when you intruded yourself into our

presence?"

For a moment the blue eyes of Hellayne flashed swords with the dark

orbs of Theodora. There was a silence and the two women read each

other's inmost thoughts, Hellayne meeting Theodora's contemptuous scorn

with the keen look of one who has seen her peril and has nerved herself

to meet it.

To Tristan she did not even vouchsafe a glance.

"I followed one, perjured and forsworn," she said in tones that cut

Tristan's very soul, while a look of immeasurable contempt flashed from

her blue eyes. "You are welcome to him, Lady Theodora. I do not even

envy you his memory."

Ere Theodora could reply, Hellayne, with a choking sob, turned and fled

down the moonlit path like some hunted thing, and ere either realized

what had happened she had vanished in the night.

Tristan, dreading the worst, his soul bruised in its innermost

depths, cursing himself for having permitted any consideration except

Hellayne's life to interfere with his preconceived plans, started to

follow, when Theodora, guessing his purpose, suddenly barred his way.

Ere he could prevent, she had thrown her arms about him and her

face upturned to his stormy brow she whispered deliriously, utterly

oblivious of two eyes that burnt from their sockets like live coals:

"I love you! I love you!" and her whole being seemed ablaze with the

fire of an all-devouring passion. "Tristan, I love you with a love

so idolatrous, that I could slay you with these hands rather than be

spurned, be denied by you. Love me Tristan--love me! And I shall give

you such love in return as mortals have never known. I am as one in a

trance--I cannot see--I cannot think! I, the woman born to command--am

begging--imploring--I care not what you do with me--what becomes of me.

Take me!--I am yours--body and soul!"

Her face was lighted up by the pale rays of the moon. But, though

his senses were steeped in a delirium that almost took from him his

manhood, the gloom but deepened on Tristan's brow, while with moist

hungry lips she kissed him, again and again.

At last, seemingly on the verge of merging his whole being into her

own, he succeeded in extricating himself from the steely coils of those

white arms.

"Lady Theodora," he said in cold and constrained tones, "I am too poor

to return even in part such priceless favors of the Lady Theodora's

love!"

Stung in her innermost soul by his words, trembling from head to foot

with the violence of her emotions, she panted in a passion of anger and

shame.

"You dare? This to me? Since then you will not love me--take this--"

Above him, in her hand, gleamed his own unsheathed dagger.

Tristan with a supple movement caught the white wrist and wrenched the

weapon from her.

"The Lady Theodora is always true to herself," he said with cutting

irony, retreating from her in the direction of the lake.

She threw out her arms.

"Tristan--Tristan--forgive me! Come back--I am not myself."

He paused.

"And were you Aphrodite, I should spurn your love,--I should refuse to

kiss the lips, which a slave, a churl has defiled."

"You spurn me," she laughed deliriously. "Perchance, you are right. And

yet," she added in a sadder tone, "how often does fate but grant us

the dream and destroy the reality. Go--ere I forget, and do what I may

repent of. Go! My brain is on fire. I know not what I am saying. Go!"

As Tristan turned without response, a gleam of deadly hatred shone from

her eyes. For a long time she stood motionless by the kiosk, staring

as one in a trance down the long cypress avenue, whose shadows had

swallowed up Tristan's retreating form.

The spectral rays of the moon broke here and there through the dense,

leafy canopy, and dream-like the distant sounds of harps and flutes

were wafted through the stillness of the starlit southern night.