Love and ambition wrestled in his soul. He
stood silent.
"For only five years," the king pleaded. "For five years give me your
heart. Man!" he shouted, impatiently, "will you not answer?"
"I will consider," said Vergilius, calmly.
"Go!" said Herod, in a burst of ire. Then, presently: "Now, now I will
attend to the son of Doris."
And Vergilius hastened away.
Within the hour, Antipater, son of Herod the Great, was dragged to that
strong chamber in a remote end of the vast home of Herod whence were to
come cries for mercy by night such as he had often heard from his own
victims.
CHAPTER 23
Now in Vergilius and in many of that time the human heart had dropped
its plummet into new depths of feeling, the human mind had made a reach
for nobler principles. A greater love between men and women, spreading
mysteriously, had been as the uplift of a mighty wave on the deep of
the spirit. It had broadened the sympathy of man; it had extended his
vision beyond selfish limits. Vergilius and Arria had crossed the
boundary of barbaric evolution under the leadership of love.
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