"And never has a man"--here he took both the hands of Belisarius--"had a more splendid opportunity to put ignoble mistrust to shame, to revenge himself gloriously, and to prove his fidelity. You are accused of aspiring to the Empire of the West! By God, you have it in your power! Enter Ravenna--let Goths and Italians do you homage and place a double crown upon your head. Ravenna yours, with your blindly devoted army, the Goths and Italians--truly you are unassailable. Justinian will tremble before Belisarius, and his haughty Narses will be but a straw against your strength. But you--who have all this in your hand--you will lay all the glory and the power at your master's feet and say: 'Behold, Justinian, Belisarius would rather be your servant, than ruler of the Western Empire.' So gloriously, Belisarius, has fidelity never yet been proved upon earth." Cethegus had hit the mark. The general's eyes flashed. "You are right, Cethegus. Come to my heart. I thank you. It is nobly thought. O Justinian, you shall blush with shame!" Cethegus withdrew from the embrace, and went to the door. "Poor Witichis," whispered Procopius, as he passed; "he is sacrificed to this masterpiece of truth! Now he is indeed lost." "Yes," said Cethegus, "he is lost most surely." Outside the tent he added, as he threw his mantle over his shoulder: "But you, Belisarius, more surely still!" Arrived at his quarters, he found Lucius Licinius in full armour. "Well, general!" asked Lucius. "The city has not yet surrendered. When shall we fight?" "The war is over, my Lucius. Doff your arms and gird yourself for a journey. This very day you must carry some private letters for me." "To whom?" "To the Emperor and Empress." "In Byzantium?" "No. Fortunately they are quite near, at the Baths of Epidaurus. Hasten! In fifteen days you must be back again. Not half a day later. The fate of Italy awaits your return." As soon as Procopius brought the answer of Belisarius to the Gothic King, the latter summoned to his palace the leaders of the army, the principal Goths, and a number of trustworthy freemen, and communicated to them what had happened, demanding their acquiescence. At first they were exceedingly surprised, and complete silence followed his words. At last Duke Guntharis, looking at the King with emotion, said: "The last of thy royal deeds, Witichis, is as noble, yea, nobler than all thy former acts. I shall ever regret having once opposed thee. Long since I swore in my heart to atone by blindly obeying thee. And truly--in this case thou alone canst decide; for thy sacrifice is the greatest--a crown! But if another than thou shalt be King--the Wölfung's can better endure to serve a stranger, a Belisarius, than some other Goth. So I agree to what thou sayest, and tell thee that thou hast acted well and nobly." "And I say no! a thousand times no!" cried Hildebad. "Think what you do. A stranger at the head of the Goths!"