"Then I pray thee," he said quietly, "wait here a while till I find the necessary garments for thy disguise and mine, and also pen, ink and parchment."
"Pen and ink? For what?"
"Thy proclamation of pardon, Cæsar, signed by thy hand...."
"When I am in safety I will see to it," said Caligula with sudden blandness, "thou saidst it thyself there is no time to lose."
"There is time to fulfil a promise and time to take what is the most important measure for thy safety," rejoined Taurus Antinor.
"Thou dost not trust thy Cæsar," said Caligula with a vicious snarl.
"No," was the praefect's curt reply.
It was characteristic of this tyrannical despot that at the praefect's rough answer he laughed with obvious satisfaction. At the back of his shrewd sense of self-preservation there had come the thought that the man who had spoken that unequivocal "No!" had learnt to its fullest the lesson of truth. He said nothing for a while, and when his laughter died away in a kind of hysterical gasp, he made a gesture expressive of indifference and also of submission to the other's wish.
Taurus Antinor turned away from the loathsome presence without another word and with a firm step. And Caligula, standing motionless in the middle of the room waited quietly for his return.