“Thou art better?” he asked.

“My body is better; my mind worse.”

“Thy body should then control thy mind,” said Sejanus.

“Would that my mind controlled my body! Then would my body die.”

“But thou hast suffered pain. Convalescence is a new birth, and thou wilt find life happier when thou art stronger. A trip to Velletri or Baiae would benefit thee. Wilt thou not go to Baiae?”

“A prisoner doth not choose his cell.”

“What dost thou mean, O Agrippina?”

“The mind tied to this body is freer than Agrippina is in her own home, watched by such a vigilant jailer.”

“I do not understand thee,” said Sejanus, who comprehended her meaning only too well.

“Have words lost their meaning since I have been ill, O Sejanus?”