hand he
met death, and the bedimmed light of his existence was but too evidently
nearing extinction. If she spared him, Octavianus would strike him from
the ranks of the living, and she----Again she was overpowered by the
terrible, feverish restlessness which had induced her to command the
destruction of the goblet, and had brought her to the temple. She could
not return in this mood to meet her councillors, receive visitors, greet
her children. This was the birthday of the twins; Charmian had reminded
her of it and undertaken to provide the gifts. How could she have found
time and thought for such affairs? She had returned from the chief
priest late in the evening, yet had asked for a minute description of
the condition in which they found Mark Antony. The report made by Iras
harmonized with the state in which she had herself seen him during
and after the battle. Ay, his brooding gloom seemed to have deepened.
Charmian had helped her dress in the morning, and had been on the point
of making her difficult confession, and owning that she had aided Barine
to escape the punishment of her royal mistress; but ere she could begin,
Timagenes was announced, for Cleopatra had not risen from her couch
until a late hour.

The object for which the Queen had sought the temple had not been
gained; but the consultation with Gorgias had diverted her mind, and
the emotions which the thought of her last resting-place had evoked
now drowned everything else, as the roar of the surf dominates the
twittering of the swallows on the rocky shore.

Ay, she needed calmness! She must weigh and ponder over many things in
absolute quietude, and this she could not obtain at Lochias. Then her
glance rested upon the little sanctuary of Berenike, which she had
ordered removed to make room for a garden near at hand, where the
children could indulge their love of creative work. It was empty. She
need fear no interruption there. The interior contained only a single,
quiet, pleasant chamber, with the image of Berenike. The "Introducer"
commanded the guard to admit no other visitors, and soon the little
white marble, circular room with its vaulted roof received the Queen.
She sank down on one of the bronze benches opposite to the statue. All
was still; in this cool silence her mind, trained to thought, could find
that for which it longed--clearness of vision, a plain understanding of
her own feelings and position in the presence of the impending decision.