Well, most noble traitress, what now?"
"I ask that question of you, Gallus. What now? Marcus, whom you should
call no ill name, and who was overwhelmed through no fault of his own,
fighting like a hero, has vanished----"
"Across the Styx, I fear me. Indeed that would be best for him, since no
Roman must be taken prisoner and live."
"Nay, I think not, or at the least I hope he lives. My servant,
Nehushta, would nurse him for my sake, and for my sake the Essenes,
among whom I dwelt, would guard him, even to the loss of their own
lives. Unless his wound killed him I believe that Marcus is alive
to-day."
"And if that is so you wish to communicate with him?"
"What else, Gallus? Say, what fate will befall me when I reach Rome?"
"You will be kept safe till Titus comes. Then, according to his command,
you must walk in his Triumph, and after that, unless he changes his
mind, which is not likely, since he prides himself upon never having
reversed a decree, however hastily it was made, or even added to or
taken from a judgment, you must, alas! be set up in the Forum and sold
as a slave to the highest bidder."
"Sold as a slave to the highest bidder!" repeated Miriam faintly. "That
is a poor fate for a woman, is it not? Had it been that daughter of
yours who died, for instance, you would have thought it a poor fate for
her, would you not?"
"Do not speak of it, do not speak of it," muttered Gallus into his
beard.
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