“My orders are unmistakable: ‘Proceed, without stopping, to Terracina.’”
“Ay, but who gave these cruel orders?”
“I know not.”
“Hast thou forgotten that along this road I did bear the ashes of Germanicus? Then the people and the soldiers were in mourning. To-day the same soldiers who wept when they saw the widow of that great man deny her a cup of water and a little shade. There is a tavern not far from this stream. Where dost thou procure fresh horses?”
“At that same tavern, my lady,” said the officer, beginning to show some sympathy.
“There let us rest and cool ourselves,” she pleaded.
Ignoring the petition, he asked, “Art thou better?”
“Ay, but weak. Take from me these fetters.”
“That I cannot do.”