Gallus told him and he
vanished through the curtains, whence he returned presently, beckoning
them to advance. They followed him down a corridor set with busts of
departed emperors and empresses, to find themselves in a round marble
chamber, very cool and lighted from above. In this chamber sat and
stood three men: Vespasian, whom they knew by his strong, quiet face and
grizzled hair; Titus, his son, "the darling of mankind," thin, active,
and aesthetic-looking, with eyes that were not unkindly, a sarcastic
smile playing about the corners of his mouth; and Domitian, his brother,
who has already been described, a man taller than either of them by half
a head, and more gorgeously attired. In front of the august three was a
master of ceremonies clad in a dark-coloured robe, who was showing them
drawings of various sections of the triumphal procession, and taking
their orders as to such alterations as they wished.
Also there were present, a treasurer, some officers and two or three of
the intimate friends of Titus.
Vespasian looked up.
"Greeting, worthy Gallus," he said in the friendly, open voice of one
who has spent his life in camps, "and to your wife, Julia, greeting
also. So that is the Pearl-Maiden of whom we have heard so much talk.
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