MEANWHILE the Emperor had been reconciled with Eugenius, and was resolved to go to Rome. Lucretia knew of this, for what does love not know? Who can deceive a lover? So she wrote as follows to Euryalus:

‘If I could find it in my heart to be angry with you, I should be furious now, because you hid it from me that you are going away. But my heart loves you more than myself, and cannot for any reason be turned against you. Alas, my love, why did you not tell me that the Emperor was leaving? He is preparing for his journey, nor will you stay behind; I know that. What, I implore you, will become of me? What shall I do, unhappy that I am Where can I find peace? If you leave me, I’ll not live two days. So by this letter, wet with my tears, by your right hand and the promise you gave me, if I have deserved any kindness from you, or if you have known any happiness with me, take pity, I pray you, upon a wretched lover.

‘I do not ask you to stay, only to take me with you. This evening I will pretend that I want to go to Bethlehem, and I will take with me one old woman. Arrange for two or three of your men to be there to carry me off. It is not hard to abduct where there is no resistance. And do not fear disgrace to yourself. Did not the son of Priam win his wife by rape?

‘You will not be doing my husband any injury—he will lose me any way. For if you don’t take me from him, death will. But do not be so cruel, do not leave me here to die, who have always loved you better than myself.’

To which Euryalus made this reply:

‘I concealed my departure till now, my Lucretia, lest you should be too deeply grieved, before it was necessary. I know your ways: I know, for you always torment yourself too much. Caesar is not going away never to return. When we come back from the Holy City, this will be our way home. And even if Caesar does go another way, you may count on seeing me again, if I am alive. May the Gods forbid me my native land, condemn me, like Ulysses, to a life of wandering if I do not return. So breathe again, my life; be brave. Do no harm to yourself; live, rather, and be happy.

‘As for what you say about carrying you off, that would I do most willingly, most joyfully. Nothing could please me better than to possess you always, and have you in my power. But we must consider your honour, not my wishes. For the vow by which you bound me to you enjoined upon me to take loyal thought for you, and for your interests.

‘You know you are well-born, and married into a great family. You are reputed to be the most modest, as well as the loveliest, of women, and your fame is not confined to Italy: Germany, Pannonia, Bohemia, and all the peoples of the north have heard of you. Whereas, if I carry you off, I destroy my own honour—that, for your sake, would be nothing; but what disgrace you will inflict upon your family! With what grief will you wound your mother! What will people say of you, what tale will be spread abroad? “See Lucretia, who they said was more pure than Brutus’ wife, truer than Penelope; now she is off with her seducer, abandoning her home, her kinsmen, and her country. She is no Lucretia, but Hippia, or Medea with her Jason.” Alas, what grief that would be for me, to know such things were being said of you!

‘For now our love’s a secret and all men praise you. But rape would change all that, and the vituperations flung at you would far out-weigh your former praises. But, apart from your reputation, are we strong enough to maintain our love? I am the Emperor’s servant, and he has made me powerful and rich. To leave him would be my ruin, and if I did so, I should not be able to keep you fittingly. While, if I follow the court, you will have no peace. Here to-day, there to-morrow: Caesar has never stayed anywhere so long as he has in Siena; and that was due to the emergencies of war. And, if I were to carry you off and keep you like a common harlot in the camp, think how honourable that would be for both of us!

‘For all these reasons, I implore you, my Lucretia, put such ideas out of your head, take thought for your good name. Do not indulge your passion more than you would yourself. Another lover might, perhaps, use other arguments and even urge you to fly, that he might enjoy you as long as possible, heedless of the future so he could pander to his present weakness. But that would be no true lover, who cared more for his own lust than your repute.

‘For my part, dear Lucretia, I advise what is right. Stay here, I do implore you, and doubt not but I’ll come back to you. Whatever business Caesar has in Tuscany, I’ll undertake it. I will do what I can to enjoy you, without harming you.

‘Farewell! live and love me; and do not imagine that my flame is any less than yours, or that I am not most unwilling to go. Again farewell, my sweet, my soul’s nourishment.’

The lady yielded to these arguments, and wrote that she would obey his commands.