His slave had followed him and had sought a safe corner near the door, between the wall of the room and a couch, but he himself, conquering his alarm at the dog, went forward some distance into the room.

The Emperor had seated himself on the window-sill; he pressed his foot lightly on the head of the dog, and gazed at Keraunus as at some remarkable curiosity.

His eye thus met that of the steward and made him clearly understand that he had to do with a greater personage than he had expected.

There was something imposing in the person of the man who sat before him; for this very reason, however, his pride stood on tiptoe, and he asked in a tone of swaggering dignity, though not so sharply and abruptly as he had intended.
"Am I standing before the new visitor to Lochias, the architect Claudius Venator of Rome ?" "You are--standing--" replied the Emperor, with a roguish side glance at Antinous.
"You have met with a friendly reception to this palace.

Like my fathers, who have enjoyed the stewardship of it for centuries, I know how to exercise the sacred duties of hospitality." "I am surprised to hear of the high antiquity of your family and bow to your pious sentiments," answered Hadrian, in the same tone as the steward.