“Let me entreat your majesty,” interposed Eulaeus, who was now alone with the royal couple, “let me entreat you not to make any great promises on this occasion, for the moment you do so Asclepiodorus will attribute an importance to your desire—­”

“Which it is far from having, and must not seem to have,” interrupted the queen.  “It is preposterous to waste so many words about a miserable creature, a water-carrying girl, and to go through so much disturbance—­but how are we to put an end to it all?  What is your advice, Eulaeus?”

“I thank you for that enquiry, noble princess,” replied Eulaeus.  “My lord, the king, in my opinion, should have the girl carried off, but not with any violence, nor by a man—­whom she would hardly follow so immediately as is necessary—­but by a woman.

“I am thinking of the old Egyptian tale of ‘The Two Brothers,’ which you are acquainted with.  The Pharaoh desired to possess himself of the wife of the younger one, who lived on the Mount of Cedars, and he sent armed men to fetch her away; but only one of them came back to him, for Batau had slain all the others.  Then a woman was sent with splendid ornaments, such as women love, and the fair one followed her unresistingly to the palace.

“We may spare the ambassadors, and send only the woman; your lady in waiting, Zoe, will execute this commission admirably.  Who can blame us in any way if a girl, who loves finery, runs away from her keepers?”

“But all the world will see her as Hebe,” sighed Philometor, “and proclaim us—­the sovereign protectors of the worship of Serapis—­as violators of the temple, if Asclepiodorus leads the cry.  No, no, the high-priest must first be courteously applied to.  In the case of his raising any difficulties, but not otherwise, shall Zoe make the attempt.”

“So be it then,” said the queen, as if it were her part to express her confirmation of her husband’s proposition.

“Let your lady accompany me,” begged Eulaeus, “and prefer your request to Asclepiodorus.  While I am speaking with the high-priest, Zoe can at any rate win over the girl, and whatever we do must be done to-morrow, or the Roman will be beforehand with us.  I know that he has cast an eye on Irene, who is in fact most lovely.  He gives her flowers, feeds his pet bird with pheasants and peaches and other sweetmeats, lets himself be lured into the Serapeum by his lady-love as often as possible, stays there whole hours, and piously follows the processions, in order to present the violets with which you graciously honored him by giving them to his fair one—­who no doubt would rather wear royal flowers than any others—­”

“Liar!” cried the queen, interrupting the courtier in such violent excitement and such ungoverned rage, so completely beside herself, that her husband drew back startled.