On the contrary, her royal pride rebelled against obeying the command of such a man to commit the most atrocious deed; and from childhood this pride had been as much a part of her nature as her breath and the pulsation of her heart.  And yet, for her children’s sake, she might perhaps have incurred this disgrace, had it not been at the same time the grave of the best and noblest things which she desired to implant in the young souls of the twins and Alexander.

While thinking of the children’s curses she had risen from her seat.  Why should she reflect and consider longer?  She had found the clear perception she sought.  Let Gorgias hasten the building of the tomb.  Should Fate demand her life, she would not resist if she were permitted to preserve it only at the cost of murder or base treachery.  Her lover’s was already forfeited.  At his side she had enjoyed a radiant, glowing, peerless bliss, of which the world still talked with envious amazement.  At his side, when all was over, she would rest in the grave, and compel the world to remember with respectful sympathy the royal lovers, Antony and Cleopatra.  Her children should be able to think of her with untroubled hearts, and not even the shadow of a bitter feeling, a warning thought, should deter them from adorning their parents’ grave with flowers, weeping at its foot, invoking and offering sacrifices to their spirits.

Then she glanced at the statue of Berenike, who had also once worn on her brow the double crown of Egypt.  She, too, had early died a violent death; she, too, had known how to love.  The vow to sacrifice her beautiful hair to Aphrodite if her husband returned uninjured from the Syrian war had rendered her name illustrious.  “Berenike’s Hair” was still to be seen as a constellation in the night heavens.

Though this woman had sinned often and heavily, one act of loyal love had made her an honoured, worshipped princess.  She—­Cleopatra would do something still greater.  The sacrifice which she intended to impose upon herself would weigh far more heavily in the balance than a handful of beautiful tresses, and would comprise sovereignty and life.

With head erect and a sense of proud self-reliance she gazed at the noble marble countenance of the Cyrenian queen.  Ere entering the sanctuary she had imagined that she knew how the criminals whom she had sentenced to death must feel.  Now that she herself had done with life, she felt as if she were relieved from a heavy burden, and yet her heart ached, and—­ especially when she thought of her children—­she was overwhelmed with the emotion which is the most painful of all forms of compassion—­pity for herself.

CHAPTER XVIII.

When Cleopatra left the temple, Iras marvelled at the change in her appearance.  The severe tension which had given her beautiful face a shade of harshness had yielded to an expression of gentle sadness that enhanced its charm, yet her features quickly brightened as her attendant pointed to the procession which was just entering the forecourt of the palace.