A figurative answer to add to his first sententious remark was on Marsyas' lips, but he halted suddenly, and a little pallor came into his face.
"On another day, I shall tell thee," he said after a silence, and the old man impatiently dismissed him.
Marsyas turned away from the heart of the city and went straight to the house in the suburbs.
He found Agrippa stretched on a couch where the air entered through the west lattice, and the place otherwise solitary. The princess and the children with the servants had gone into the city.
Marsyas came uncalled to Agrippa's side, and the prince noted the change on the young man's face. He looked expectant.
"My lord," Marsyas said, "thou didst say to me several days ago that thou didst hate a vower of vows. Yet no man is chafed by a vow except him who finds it hard to keep. Wherefore, I pray thee, for the prospering of the cause and mine, assure me once more of thy good intent toward Judea."
The Herod raised his fine brows.
"How now, Marsyas? Has the knowledge that I am a Herod been slandering me to you?"
"Nay, my lord; thou hast won me; and I shall not stop at sacrifice for thy cause, which is mine."
"What canst thou do, my Marsyas?"