"No, Belisarius, for I have never yet lost a battle."
An angry retort from Belisarius was cut short by the entrance of a slave, who, lifting the curtain, announced:
"Alexandros, sire, who was sent to Ravenna, has landed an hour ago, and asks----"
"Bring him in! Here!" cried the Emperor, hastily starting from his seat. He impatiently signed to the ambassador, who entered at once, to rise from his obeisance.
"Well, Alexandros, you came back alone?"
The ambassador--a handsome and still young man--repeated: "Alone."
"But your last report said--In what condition have you left the Gothic kingdom?"
"In great confusion. I wrote in my last report that the Queen had decided to rid herself of her three most haughty enemies. Should the attempt fail, she would be no longer safe in Italy, and she begged to be allowed, in that case, to go in my ship to Epidamnus, and from thence to escape to Byzantium."
"And I accepted the proposal readily. Well, and the attempt?"
"Succeeded. The three dukes are no more. But the rumour had reached Ravenna that the most dangerous of them, Duke Thulun, was only wounded. This induced the Queen--as, besides, the Goths threateningly surrounded the palace--to escape to my ship. We weighed anchor, but soon after we had left the harbour, off Ariminum, Earl Witichis overtook us with superior numbers, boarded us, and demanded that Amalaswintha should return, guaranteeing her safety until a solemn examination had taken place before the National Assembly. When she learnt from him that Duke Thulun had succumbed to his wounds, and saw from the proposal of Witichis that he and his powerful friends did not yet believe in her guilt, and as, besides, she apprehended compulsion, she consented to return with him to Ravenna. But first, on board the Sophia, she wrote this letter to you, and sends you this present from her treasury."