He approached her and caught her in his arms.
“O Gyges, Gyges!” she screamed, struggling against him with all her might.
“Struggle, scream, ay, yell! Thy cries fall on deaf ears. No one can save thee.”
Although excitement gave her unnatural strength, yet in the arms of Sejanus she was powerless. He kissed her cheeks, though she tried to avoid his caress by leaning backwards. He whispered words of love, but she spat in his face. She clutched his head in her hands and tore his hair. But this nervous force soon spent itself, and she grew weak. She sobbed, pleaded, and struggled; she called upon the gods, but with no avail. Sejanus, like an enraged beast, threw her on her straw mattress—but a loud knock on the door arrested him. Infuriated by the interruption, and fully prepared to fell the man who had broken his strict orders, he opened the door, and saw standing in the corridor his master—the Emperor.
Chapter XIII
BEFORE the emperor the anger of Sejanus melted into mild servility. With customary composure he greeted Tiberius as if nothing whatever had happened. He locked the cell door, and as he walked towards his office he said to the emperor: “Truly am I tormented by that wench. She knows a secret, and even slight bodily punishment cannot unseal her lips. Verily I shall be compelled to resort to painful torture to learn the truth.”
“Who is she?”
“I crave thy pardon, O Tiberius, but I will answer thee in my office.”
When they had entered the business room of Sejanus, both seated themselves at a cedar-wood table, covered with reports and letters. Sejanus was the first to speak. “Since the death of thy son, I have already told thee, the friends of Agrippina and Germanicus are jubilant; for the brothers Nero and Drusus are now regarded as thy successors. This woman with whom thou didst find me has bought poison. She is in the employ of Sosia.”
“Sosia, the wife of Caius Silius and the friend of Agrippina?” asked the emperor, greatly surprised.