This man wore false hair so well fixed upon his
head that it could not attract attention; the letter he had to
deliver was laid beneath an artificial scalp.
'Be on your guard,' thus Marcian wrote. 'Some one has made known to
the Greeks that you are arming men, and for what purpose. Delay no
longer than you must in joining the King. In him is your only hope,
if hope there still can be. I, too, shall soon be in the camp.'
These last words were for his friend's encouragement. As soon as the
letter had been despatched, he went forth about Rome in his usual
way, spoke with many persons, and returned home unscathed. Plainly,
then, he was to be left at liberty yet awhile; Pelagius had purposes
to serve. Next day, he betook himself to the Palatine; Bessas
received him with bluff friendliness, joked about his escape from
death (for every one believed that he had had the plague), and
showed no sign of the mistrust which had marked their last meeting.
In gossip with certain Romans who were wont to hang about the
commander, flattering and fawning upon him for their base advantage,
he learnt that no one had yet succeeded to the place left vacant by
the hapless Muscula; only in casual amours, generally of the
ignoblest, did Bessas bestow his affections.
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