“Then why dost thou object? He shall eat at my table and shall be taught to trust me,—something which his mother will not do.”
“Thou askest me to trust thee, O Tiberius?”
“The mother of Germanicus trusts me; his wife fears me.”
“In the death of Germanicus Antonia lost a son, I lost a husband and a protector.”
“Has not the emperor protected thee and thy children?”
The bitter irony hidden in his words increased the feeling of hate in Agrippina as she said, “Thinkest thou, O Tiberius, that I am a lifeless piece of clay, without memory, feeling, or heart?”
“Ah, Agrippina!” he exclaimed. “Thou hast always regarded me through a veil of hate. Every good act I commit becomes distorted.”
White with indignation, Agrippina interrupted: “What hast thou done that no one dares to visit me? Thou hast made friendship for Agrippina a crime. Sosius and Sosia were persecuted because they loved me. O Jupiter and ye celestial gods! what crime did the pure Claudia commit? Domitius Afer, an unknown lawyer, with bribed witnesses, tried to prove her an adulteress and a worker in witchcraft against thee. What reason didst thou give me when I pleaded for the life of that chaste and honest matron? Thy words were, ‘She shall die.’ O Tiberius, her greatest crime was her friendship for me! What has Sabinus done? He loved my husband; he loved me and my children. Of a truth, thou hast turned every friend from me. Thou wouldst like my children to hate me. Even my slaves are paid by some one to spy and lie against me. Do I look at thee through a veil of hate? Who holds that veil?”
“Thou dost not reason calmly,” he protested.
“Afflicted as I have been, does it not surprise thee that I can reason at all?” she bitterly asked.