Gelimer sat down on the couch; Zazo stood before him, leaning on his
long sword, and began,--
"Soon after you went to the field, Pudentius came from Tripolis to
Carthage."
"Again?"
"Yes, he is often at the palace and talks for hours, alone with the
King. Or with Euages and Hoamer, the King's nephews, our beloved
cousins. The latter, arrogant blockhead, can't keep silent after wine.
In a drunken revel he told the secret."
"But surely not to you?"
"No! To red-haired Thrasaric."
"The savage!"
"I don't commend his morals," cried the other, laughing. "Yet he has
grown much more sedate since he is honestly trying to win the dainty
Eugenia. But he never lies. And he would die for the Vandal nation;
especially for you, whom he calls his tutor. You begin education with
blows. In the grove of Venus--"
"The Holy Virgin, you mean," Gelimer corrected.
"If you prefer?--yes! But it does the Virgin little honor, so long as
the old customs remain. So, at a banquet in the shell grotto of that
grove, Thrasaric was praising you, and said you would restore the
warlike fame of the Vandals as soon as you were king, when Hoamer
shouted angrily: 'Never! That will never be! Constantinople has
forbidden it. Gelimer is the Emperor's foe. When my uncle dies, _I_
shall be king; or the Emperor will appoint Pudentius Regent of the
kingdom. So it has been discussed and settled among us.'"
"That was said in a fit of drunkenness."
"Under the influence of wine--and in wine is truth, the Romans say.
Just at that moment Pudentius came into the grotto. 'Aha!' called the
drunken man, 'your last letter from the Emperor was worth its weight in
gold. Just wait till I am King, I will reward you: you shall be the
Emperor's exarch in Tripolis.'
"Pudentius was greatly startled and winked at him to keep silence, but
he went on: 'No, no! that's your well-earned reward.' All this was told
me by Thrasaric in the first outbreak of his wrath after he had
rushed away from the banquet. But wait: there is more to come! This
Pudentius--do you believe him our friend?"
"Oh, no," sighed Gelimer. "His grandparents and parents were cruelly
slain by our kings because they remained true to their religion. How
should the son and grandson love us?"
Zazo went close up to his brother, laid his hand heavily on his
shoulder, and said slowly: "And _Verus_? Is _he_ to love us? Have you
forgotten how his whole family--?"
Gelimer shook his head mournfully: "Forget _that_? I?" He shuddered and
closed his eyes. Then, rousing himself by a violent effort from the
burden of his gloomy thoughts, he went on: "Still your firmly rooted
delusion! Always this distrust of the most faithful among all who love
me!"
"Oh, brother! But I will not upbraid you; your clear mind is blinded,
blinded by this priest! It seems as if there were some miracle at
work--"
"It _is_ a miracle," interrupted Gelimer, deeply moved, raising his
eyes devoutly.
"But what say you to the fact that this Pudentius, whom you, too, do
not trust, is admitted to the city secretly at night--by whom? By
Verus, your bosom friend!"
"That is not true."
"I have seen it. I will swear it to the priest's face. Oh, if only he
were here now!"
"He is not far away. He told me--he was the first one of you all to
greet me at the parade--that he longed to see me, he must speak to me
at once. I appointed this place; as soon as the King dismissed me I
would be here. Do you see? He is already coming down the colonnade."