easons apply to
you, and----"

"And," interrupted Cethegus, "that is very uncomfortable, is it not?
For by knowledge of their motives one can govern men. Well, I am sorry,
reverend friend, but I cannot help you. I really do not know myself
what my motive is. I am so curious about it, that I would gladly tell
it to you--and allow myself to be governed--if I could only find it
out. Only one thing I feel--that these Goths are my antipathy. I hate
these full-blooded fellows, with their broad flaxen beards. I cannot
bear their brutal good humour, their ingenuous youthfulness, their
stupid heroism, their unbroken natures. It is the impudence of chance,
which governs the world, that this country, after such a history,
possessing men like--like you and me--should be ruled by these Northern
bears!"

He tossed his head indignantly, closed his eyes, and sipped a small
quantity of wine.

"That the barbarians must go, we are agreed," said Silverius, "and with
this, all is gained as far as I am concerned. For I only await the
deliverance of the Church from these heretical barbarians, who deny the
divinity of Christ, and make Him a demi-god. I hope that the primacy of
all Christendom will, as is fitting, incontestably fall to the share of
the Roman Church. But as long as Rome is in the power of the heretics,
while the Bishop of Byzantium is supported by the only orthodox and
legitimate Emperor----"

"The Bishop of Rome cannot be the first Bishop of Christendom, nor the
master of Italy; and therefore the Roman Apostolic See, even when
occupied by a Silverius, cannot be what it ought to be--the highest.
And yet that is what Silverius wishes."

The priest looked up in surprise.

"Do not be uneasy, reverend friend. I knew this long ago, and have kept
your secret, although you did not confide it to me. But further----" He
again filled his cup. "Your Falernian has been well stored, but it is
too sweet.--Properly speaking, you can but wish that these Goths may
evacuate the throne of the Caesars, and not that the Byzantines should
take their place; for in that case the Bishop of Rome would have again
a superior bishop and an emperor in Byzantium. You must therefore,
instead of the Goths, wish--not for an Emperor--Justinian--but--what
else?"

"Either," eagerly interrupted Silverius, "a special Emperor of the
Western Empire----"

"Who, however," said Cethegus, completing the sentence, "would be only
a puppet in the hands of the holy