ehushta, and he was more than half
convinced that there were reasons why such an affection would inevitably
meet with her disapproval. In former days, before she was married to
Cambyses, and afterwards, before Zoroaster had been sent into Media,
Atossa had shown so marked a liking for him, that a man more acquainted
with the world, would have guessed that she loved him. He had not
suspected such a thing, but with a keen perception of character, he had
understood that beneath the beautiful features and the frank gentleness
of the young princess, there lurked a profound intelligence, an
unbending ambition and a cold selfishness without equal; he had
mistrusted her, but he had humoured her caprices and been in truth a
good friend to her, without in the least wishing to accept her
friendship for himself in return. He was but a young captain of five
hundred then, although he was the favourite of the court; but his strong
arm was dreaded as well as the cutting force of his replies when
questioned, and no word of the court gossip had therefore reached his
ears concerning Atossa's admiration for him. It was, moreover, so
evident that he cared nothing for her beyond the most unaffected
friendliness, that her disappointment in not moving his heart was a
constant source of satisfaction to her enemies. There had reigned in
those days a great and unbridled license in the court, and the fact of
the daughter of Cyrus loving and being loved by the handsomest of the
king's guards, would not of itself have attracted overmuch notice. But
the evident innocence of Zoroaster in the whole affair, and the masterly
fashion in which Atossa concealed her anger, if she felt any, caused the
matter to be completely forgotten as soon as Zoroaster left Shushan, and
events had, since then, succeeded each other too rapidly to give the
courtiers leisure for gossiping about old scandals. The isolation in
which Gomata had lived during the seven months while he maintained the
popular impression that he was not Gomata-Smerdis, but Smerdis the
brother of Cambyses, had broken up the court; and the strong, manly
character of Darius had checked the license of the nobles suddenly, as a
horse-breaker brings up an unbroken colt by flinging the noose about his
neck. The king permitted that the ancient custom of marrying as many as
four wives should be maintained, and he himself soon set an example by
so doing; but he had determined that the whole corrupt fabric of cou