e frank kindness, wholly
untinged by condescending pride, of this powerful sovereign.

The less Barine had expected such a reception the more deeply it moved
her; nay, her eyes grew dim with grateful emotion, which lent them so
beautiful a lustre, she looked so lovely in her glad surprise, that
Cleopatra thought the months which had elapsed since her first meeting
with the singer had enhanced her charms. And how young she was! The
Queen swiftly computed the years which Barine must have lived as the
wife of Philostratus, and afterwards as the attractive mistress of a
hospitable house, and found it difficult to reconcile the appearance of
this blooming young creature with the result of the calculation.

She was surprised, too, to note the aristocratic bearing whose
possession no one could deny the artist's daughter. This was apparent
even in her dress, yet Iras had roused her in the middle of the night,
and certainly had given her no time for personal adornment.

She had expected lack of refinement and boldness, in the woman who was
said to have attracted so many men, but even the most bitter prejudice
could have detected no trace of it. On the contrary, the embarrassment
which she could not yet wholly subdue lent her an air of girlish
timidity. All in all, Barine was a charming creature, who bewitched men
by her vivacity, her grace, and her exquisite voice, not by coquetry and
pertness. That she possessed unusual mental endowments Cleopatra did not
believe. Barine had only one advantage over her--youth.

Time had not yet robbed the former of a single charm, while from the
Queen he had wrested many; their number was known only to herself and
her confidantes, but at this hour she did not miss them.

Barine, with a low, modest bow, advanced towards the Queen, who
commenced the conversation by graciously apologizing for the late hour
at which she had summoned her. "But," she added, "you belong to the
ranks of the nightingales, who during the night most readily and
exquisitely reveal to us what stirs their hearts--"

Barine gazed silently at the floor a moment, and when she raised her
eyes her voice was faint and timid. "I sing, it is true, your Majesty,
but I have nothing else in common with the birds. The wings which, when
a child, bore me wherever I desired, have lost their strength. They do
not wholly refuse their service, but they now require favourable hours
to move."

"I should not have expected that in the time