be my equal in every respect. Every honor paid to me shall be offered to
you likewise. I have shown the malcontents what they have to expect.
The fate which awaits the consul Claudius Vindex and his nephew, who by
their want of respect to you offended me, will teach the others to have a
care."

"O my lord, that aged man!" cried Melissa, clasping her hands,
imploringly.

"He shall die, and his nephew," was the inexorable answer. "During my
conference with my mother's messengers they had the presumption to raise
objections against you and the ardent desire of my heart in a manner
which came very near to being treason. And they must suffer for it."

"You would punish them for my sake?" exclaimed Melissa. "But I forgive
them willingly. Grant them pardon! I beg, I entreat you."

"Impossible! Unless I make an example, it will be long before the
slanderous tongues would hold their peace. Their sentence stands."

But Melissa would not be appeased. With passionate eagerness she
entreated the emperor to grant a pardon, but he cut her short with the
request not to interfere in matters which he alone had to decide and
answer for.

"I owe it to you as well as to myself," he continued, "to remove every
obstacle from the path. Were I to spare Vindex, they would never again
believe in my strength of purpose. He shall die, and his nephew with
him! To raise a structure without first securing a solid foundation
would be an act of rashness and folly. Besides, I undertake nothing