“To begin with,” he said, “I want you to understand that I like you, that I haven’t forgotten that you rescued the retiarius, whopped Bambilio and behaved like a trump when Father tested you. I’m for you. Your colts are the cream of Italian stud-farms. You are a wonderful woman, all round. But, as a Vestal, you have your weak points. I remember Father’s instructions about you and I have all that in mind. Besides, I know that I, as Chief Pontiff, have the right to make my own decision about any such matter and to brush aside anybody else’s opinion and anybody else’s interpretation of the evidence. Also my impulse is to make use of my prerogative, dismiss the accusation against you, reiterate Father’s warning to Calvaster and get the whole thing off my mind. I don’t like Calvaster and I don’t value him an atom. They say he’s indispensable, but if he irritates me ever so little more I’ll dispense with him and I’ll wager the Republic will get on without him. You see that I am strong on your side and almost on the point of deciding in your favor. “But I hesitate. This case of yours worries me more than anything that has come up since I took over the Principiate. I cannot make up my mind. “I’m not the man I was a year ago. I’m shaken. Father told me that the most wearing feature of his being Emperor was his recurring escapes from assassination. I had my first escape just after your audience with me. It jarred me horribly. The fool barely missed finishing me. The experience made me take precautions and so no other miscreant has come so near to doing for me. But the repetitions have grown monotonous. I always thought highly of your lad, and I’ve often wondered how he managed to get any sleep or swallow any food while he was King of the Grove, but I think immeasurably more of him since I’ve been through something faintly similar. He deserves the best of life and I hope he’ll get his heart’s desire and marry you at the end of your service. “You see how enthusiastically I am on your side. “But there is much to be considered. “If this were a question of judging a two-year-old filly I’d need no man’s advice and I’d listen to no man’s opinion. I’m better fitted to judge a horse than any man alive. It would be the same if it were a question of refereeing a sword-bout or a boxing-mill or a wrestling-match or anything of the kind. I know all about such things and I know that I am a judge superior to anybody on earth. I’m a born all-round athlete and everybody knows it and recognizes me as a past master.