Ardaric, however, was not long ere he appeared; but it was evident that there was some degree of embarrassment upon his countenance.
"Hast thou seen this new ambassador, my friend?" demanded Attila as soon as he approached. "Hast thou seen this Apollonius?"
"I have, oh king!" replied Ardaric; but there he paused, and spoke no further.
"What said he then?" exclaimed the monarch of the Huns, impatiently. "Why art thou such a niggard of thy words, my friend? What answer gives the puppet on the Eastern throne unto our just demand? What says he to our contract with Theodosius? Has he sent the tribute therein promised?"
"No tribute has he sent, oh Attila!" replied the King of the Gepidæ, looking suddenly up, as if forced at length to tell unpleasant tidings, and resolved to tell them plainly. "No tribute has he sent, oh Attila! and touching the contract he replies, that it was only between Attila and a monarch that is dead; and that Marcian is not Theodosius. Further, he declares that he will have no talk of tribute; and he bids your own ambassador say, that Marcian has gold for his friends, but steel for his enemies."
Attila had remained with his left hand resting on his sword; but as he heard the bold reply of Marcian to his demands upon the Eastern empire, the long sinewy fingers clasped upon the hilt; and though he uttered not a word, he drew the blade half out of its sheath in the agony of suppressed rage, while his white teeth might be seen shut close together, as if to imprison in his own breast the angry thoughts that struggled vehemently to burst forth. In the meanwhile Ardaric, who had now told the worst, and whose purpose was to sooth rather than to irritate the Hunnish sovereign, hastened to add what he thought might, in some degree, mitigate his wrath. "Nevertheless so, Attila," he said, "though this man's words and actions are bold indeed, yet he is not without that reverence for the fame and might of Attila which all inferior kings must feel; and this ambassador, this Apollonius, is loaded with presents far more costly and splendid than ever were wrung from the weakness of Theodosius."
Attila sprang up from his seat, and grasping firmly the arm of Ardaric, he gazed sternly in his face, exclaiming, "Seek not to sooth me, Ardaric, seek not to restrain my wrath! It is vain! It is unnecessary! The conduct of Attila shall not be governed by rage! Indignation shall have no share therein! Policy shall rule all: my conduct is determined; has been long determined, Ardaric; and thou shalt see that, provoked even to the utmost, Attila can play the lamb till the time be come for him to play the lion! Slaves, ho!" he continued, raising his voice; and instantly a number of attendants rushed into the room, among the first of whom was Zercon, the black jester of his dead brother Bleda.
There was something in the sight that seemed to irritate the king, and, fixing his flashing eyes upon the hump-backed Moor, he cried, "Who bid thee hither? What dost thou, listening to the king's private counsel? Take him away; take the foul, impotent lump away, and strike the eavesdropping ears from off his head! Away with him! Answer not, but let it be done! Thou!" he continued, to one of the attendants who had followed--"thou! Get thee to this ambassador from the East. Tell him that Attila has not time to give attention to such trifling things as the tribute due from Marcian; but, that as soon as he has a moment for lighter affairs and things of no importance, he will see him. In the meantime, let him deliver the presents that he bears unto my officers. Hence! Do my bidding quickly!"
The attendants withdrew without a second warning; and Attila resumed his conversation with Ardaric, who felt not a little relieved to find that the mighty king to whom he had attached himself could still so far govern his rage as to consult the dictates of good policy rather than those impulses of passion to which he had but too frequently given way since his encounter with Ætius.
"I have thought over all this, my friend," said Attila, calmly, "since a conversation which I held yesterday with the young Roman, Theodore."