[A murmur of horror.
Cor. (starting wildly forward). Sicinius? Sicinius, the pleb?
Oh! gods of Heaven! Ye have struck me hard!
[She sinks insensible upon the ground. Her slaves bend over her. Tiberius kneels beside her, sobbing bitterly.
The Cit. How died he?
Run. It is said by some that he,
Being sent by the Decemvirs to select
A spot most suitable whereon to camp,
Fell into ambuscade and died along
With several comrades.
The Cit. Slaughtered by the foe?
Run. So it hath been reported by the few
That did escape. [He pauses, then proceeds.
But hearken, citizens!
The bodies lay unspoil'd, with faces turned
All toward one—that one, Sicinius.
The Ten hath hated and hath feared this man!
No more. Construe the meaning as ye list;
I must away.
[Exit runner. The four citizens, Horatius, Galba, Marius, and Hortensius, approach the prone form of Cornelia.
Hor. A lady of patrician birth! Good slaves,
Can we assist thy mistress, who appears
In such a piteous and hapless plight?
Slave (sobbing). Alas! Alas! I know not what to do,
Or what hath come upon her suddenly.
Ah! see, she stirs! Lady, awake! awake!
Cor. (opening her eyes, but making no attempt to raise herself). Those words he used when last he came to me.
Oh! bitter, bitter fate! Say not awake,
But sleep eternally! Sicinius!
Galba. It doth appear affection did exist
Betwixt Rome's great plebeian and this lady.
Tib. Ay, sir, she loved him e'en as he loved her;
But naught was said because they feared the Ten.
Nay, I was wrong! Sicinius and fear
Are alien the one unto the other!
But rather did he bide his time until
These men should be o'erthrown and Rome be freed
From their most hateful laws and government.
One of the multitude. Hark to the boy! He is a demagogue.
Another. Nay, he is innocent, and therefore bold.
Parroting sentiments that are not his own.
A third. And yet he speaks the truth, the naked truth.
See how this woman hath been sadly wronged,
And how her life is marred by these Decemvirs;
For surely they gave orders for the death
Of him who was a leader and a man!
Have they not feared him for these many months,
Because his tongue is sharper than a sword?
And these two, a patrician and a pleb,
Each representing classes now united
By common misery, are foully hurt,
And scarred by fierce injustice from the Ten.
Vengeance! The time is ripe for vengeance. Rome
Can bear no more. Sicinius is dead!
[Murmurs of "Sicinius is dead!"
Cor. (moaning as in pain). Sicinius is dead!
Sicinius!
[Enter Virginia, followed by Camilla. She espies Cornelia and at once approaches.
Virg. Kind citizens, let me to her, I pray.