things of the past."

"But how can it be possible," said Eulaeus, "that any one to whom
Cleopatra had offered her society should think so long of anything else
than the beautiful present?"

"You indeed have good reason," retorted Publius quickly, "to enter the
lists in behalf of the present, and never willingly to recall the past."

"It was full of anxiety and care," replied Eulaeus with perfect
self-possession. "That my sovereign lady must know from her illustrious
mother, and from her own experience; and she will also protect me from
the undeserved hatred with which certain powerful enemies seem minded
to pursue me. Permit me, your majesty, not to make my appearance at the
banquet until later. This noble gentleman kept me waiting for hours
in the Serapeum, and the proposals concerning the new building in the
temple of Isis at Philae must be drawn up and engrossed to-day, in order
that they may be brought to-morrow before your royal husband in council
and your illustrious brother Euergetes--"

"You have leave, interrupted Cleopatra."

As soon as Eulaeus had disappeared, the queen went closer up to Publius,
and said:

"You are annoyed with this man--well, he is not pleasant, but at any
rate he is useful and worthy. May I ask whether you only feel his
personality repugnant to you, or whether actual circumstances have given
rise to your aversion--nay, if I have judged rightly, to a very bitterly
hostile feeling against him?"

"Both," replied Publius. "In this unmanly man, from the very first, I
expected to find nothing good, and I now know that, if I erred at all,
it was in his favor. To-morrow I will ask you to spare me an hour when
I can communicate to your majesty something concerning him, but which is
too repulsive and sad to be suitable for telling in an evening devoted
to enjoyment. You need not be inquisitive, for they are matters that
belong to the past, and which concern neither you nor me."

The high-steward and the cup-bearer here interrupted this conversation
by calling them to table, and the royal pair were soon reclining with
their guests at the festal board.

Oriental splendor and Greek elegance were combined in the decorations
of the saloon of moderate size, in which Ptolemy Philometor was wont to
prefer to hold high-festival with a few chosen friends. Like the great
reception-hall and the men's hall-with its twenty doors and lofty
porphyry columns--in which the king's guests assembled, it was li