"Ah, if _she_ had been here, at my side, she would certainly have
saved me! She was such an astonishing woman!"
The tribune Scuda, entering the _triclinium_ where supper was laid,
announced, with a profound salutation, that on the morrow, in honour
of the arrival of Cæsar, there would be races in the hippodrome of
Constantinople, and that the celebrated rider Korax would take part
in them. Gallus was delighted at the news, and ordered a crown of
bay-leaf to be prepared, that, in case of the victory of Korax, he
might himself crown his favourite before the people. He launched into
racing stories, boasting the skill of his charioteers.
Gallus drank deeply, laughed like a man whose rakish conscience is at
ease, with not a trace of his recent fears upon those handsome
features. Only at the last moment of farewell he kissed Julian
heartily, suddenly melting into tears.
"May God help you! May God help you!" he blubbered. "You alone have
stood my friend--you and Constantia!"