you a base,
mean-natured fellow! One who has the good fortune to be the son of
Julius Caesar ought not to forget it so disgracefully. My gall overflows
at your whimpering. By the dog! It was one of my most senseless pranks
to take you to the singer. I should think there would be other things to
occupy the mind of the King of kings. Besides, Barine cares no more for
you than the last fish you caught. She showed that plainly enough. I say
once more, if Derketaeus's men succeed in capturing the beauty who
has robbed you of your senses, she won't go with you to your miserable
estate to cook the fish you catch, for if we have her again, and my
father holds out his hand to her, all your labour will be in vain. He
saw the fair enchantress only twice, and had no time to become better
acquainted, but she captured his fancy and, if I remind him of her, who
knows what will happen?"

Here Cleopatra beckoned to her companion and returned to her apartments
with drooping head. On reaching them, she broke the silence, saying:
"Listening, Charmian, is unworthy of a Queen; but if all listeners
heard things so painful, one need no longer guard keyholes and chinks of
doors. I must recover my calmness ere I receive Eros. One thing more. Is
Barine's hiding-place secure?"

"I don't know--Archibius says so."

"Very well. They are searching for her zealously enough, as you heard,
and she must not be found. I am glad that she did not set a snare for
the boy. How a jealous heart leads us astray! Were she here, I would
grant her anything to make amends for my unjust suspicion of her and
Antony. And to think that Alexas--but for your interposition he would
have succeeded--meant to send her to the mines! It is a terrible warning
to be on my guard. Against whom? First of all, my own weakness. This is
a day of recognition. A noble aim, but on the way the feet bleed, and
the heart--ah! Charmian, the poor, weak, disappointed heart!"

She sighed heavily, and supported her head on the arm resting upon
the table at her side. The polished, exquisitely grained surface of
thya-wood was worth a large estate; the gems in the rings and bracelets
which glittered on her hand and arm would have purchased a principality.
This thought entered her mind and, overpowered by a feeling of angry
disgust, she would fain have cast all the costly rubbish into the sea or
the destroying flames.

She would gladly have been a beggar, content with the barley bread of
Epicuru