‘Where is he? Why has he not arrived yet?’

None of Severianus’s officials dared answer. They knew to keep silent when the Bishop was in a bad mood. And this was an exceptionally bad one.

‘I do not like to be kept waiting’.

One of the servants who had been brought along as part of the retinue tried to offer Severianus food and drink, but to no avail.

The Bishop of Eboracum and the leader of the north surveyed the city from his seat in front of St Paul’s church. The others shivered in the cold, but Severianus seemed unaffected. Rather, he had insisted that they sit outside so that they could watch for Germanus and his retinue. In addition, it gave him an opportunity to reminisce about the place that he had known as a child. He made a men...

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