'It wouldn't have been fair, somehow.'
'That was what I thought,' said Parnesius. 'But
Maximus frowned. "You'll never be an Emperor," he
said. "Not even a General will you be."
'I was silent, but my Father seemed pleased.
"'I came here to see the last of you," he said.
"'You have seen it," said Maximus. "I shall never need
your son any more. He will live and he will die an officer
of a Legion - and he might have been Prefect of one of my
Provinces. Now eat and drink with us," he said. "Your
men will wait till you have finished."
'My miserable thirty stood like wine-skins glistening in
the hot sun, and Maximus led us to where his people had
set a meal. Himself he mixed the wine.
"'A year from now," he said, "you will remember that
you have sat with the Emperor of Britain - and Gaul."
"'Yes," said the Pater, "you can drive two mules -
Gaul and Britain."
"'Five years hence you will remember that you have
drunk" - he passed me the cup and there was blue borage
in it - "with the Emperor of Rome!"
"'No; you can't drive three mules. They will tear YOU
in pieces," said my Father.
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