long before thou knewest it thyself—thy
heart’s tide was setting strong towards that
ruinous shore whereon to-day thy life is broken.
And at last that night came, that dreadful night when,
hid within the chamber, I saw thee cast my kerchief
to the winds, and with sweet words cherish my royal
Rival’s gift. Then—oh, thou knowest—in
my pain I betrayed the secret that thou wouldst not
see, and thou didst make a mock of me, Harmachis!
Oh! the shame of it—thou in thy foolishness
didst make a mock of me! I went thence, and within
me were rising all the torments which can tear a woman’s
heart, for now I was sure that thou didst love Cleopatra!
Ay, and so mad was I, even that night I was minded
to betray thee: but I thought—not
yet, not yet; to-morrow he may soften. Then came
the morrow, and all was ready for the bursting of the
great plot that should make thee Pharaoh. And
I too came—thou dost remember—and
again thou didst put me away when I spake to thee in
parables, as something of little worth—as
a thing too small to claim a moment’s weighty
thought. And, knowing that this was because—though
thou knewest it not—thou didst love Cleopatra,
whom now thou must straightway slay, I grew mad, and
a wicked Spirit entered into me, possessing me utterly,
so that I was myself no longer, nor could control myself.
And because thou hadst scorned me, I did this, to
my everlasting shame and sorrow!—I passed
into Cleopatra’s presence and betrayed thee and
those with thee, and our holy cause, saying that I
had found a writing which thou hadst let fall and
read all this therein.”
I gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly at me she
went on:
“When she understood how great was the plot,
and how deep its roots, Cleopatra was much troubled;
and, at first, she would have fled to Sais or taken
ship and run for Cyprus, but I showed her that the
ways were barred. Then she said she would cause
thee to be slain, there, in the chamber, and I left
her so believing; for, at that hour, I was glad that
thou shouldst be slain—ay, even if I wept
out my heart upon thy grave, Harmachis. But what
said I just now?—Vengeance is an arrow that
oft falls on him who looses it. So it was with
me; for between my going and thy coming Cleopatra
hatched a deeper plan. She feared that to slay
thee would only be to light a fiercer fire of revolt;
but she saw that to bind thee to her, and, having
left men awhile in doubt, to show thee faithless,
would strike the imminent danger at its roots and wither
it. This plot once formed, being great, she dared
its doubtful issue, and—need I go on?
Thou knowest, Harmachis, how she won; and thus the
shaft of vengeance that I loosed fell upon my own head.
For on the morrow I knew that I had sinned for naught,
that the burden of my betrayal had been laid on the
wretched Paulus, and that I had but ruined the cause
to which I was sworn and given the man I loved to the
arms of wanton Egypt.”
She bowed her head awhile, and then, as I spoke not,
once more went on: