The disaster might then be attributed to a mere naval accident, and Nero might make the most ostentatious display of his affection and regret.
The invitation was sent, and a vessel specially decorated was ordered to await her movements.

But, either from suspicion or from secret information, she declined to avail herself of it, and was conveyed to Baiae in a litter.

The effusion of hypocritical affection with which she was received, the unusual tenderness and honour with which she was treated, the earnest gaze, the warm embrace, the varied conversation, removed her suspicions, and she consented to return in the vessel of honour.

As though for the purpose of revealing the crime, the night was starry and the sea calm.

The ship had not sailed far, and Crepereius Gallus, one of her friends, was standing near the helm, while a lady named Acerronia was seated at her feet as she reclined, and both were vieing with each other in the warmth of their congratulations upon the recent interview, when a crash was heard, and the canopy above them which had been weighted with a quantity of lead, was suddenly let go.
Crepereius was crushed to death upon the spot; Agrippina and Acerronia were saved by the projecting sides of the couch on which they were resting; in the hurry and alarm, as accomplices were mingled with a greater number who were innocent of the plot, the machinery of the treacherous vessel failed.