ask questions? Go and do as
you are told. (Ftatateeta goes out with a grim smile. Cleopatra goes on
eagerly, to Caesar) Caesar will know that I am a Queen when he sees my
crown and robes, will he not?

CAESAR. No. How shall he know that you are not a slave dressed up in the
Queen's ornaments?

CLEOPATRA. You must tell him.

CAESAR. He will not ask me. He will know Cleopatra by her pride, her
courage, her majesty, and her beauty. (She looks very doubtful.) Are you
trembling?

CLEOPATRA (shivering with dread). No, I--I--(in a very sickly voice) No.

Ftatateeta and three women come in with the regalia.

FTATATEETA. Of all the Queen's women, these three alone are left. The
rest are fled. (They begin to deck Cleopatra, who submits, pale and
motionless.)

CAESAR. Good, good. Three are enough. Poor Caesar generally has to dress
himself.

FTATATEETA (contemptuously). The Queen of Egypt is not a Roman
barbarian. (To Cleopatra) Be brave, my nursling. Hold up your head
before this stranger.

CAESAR (admiring Cleopatra, and placing the crown on her head). Is it
sweet or bitter to be a Queen, Cleopatra?

CLEOPATRA. Bitter.

CAESAR. Cast out fear; and you will conquer Caesar. Tota: are the Romans
at hand?

FTATATEETA. They are at hand; and the guard has fled.

THE WOMEN (wailing subduedly). Woe to us!

The Nubian comes running down the hall.

NUBIAN. The Romans are in the courtyard. (He bolts through the door.
With a shriek, the women fly after him. Ftatateeta's jaw expresses
savage resolution: she does not budge. Cleopatra can hardly restrain
herself from following them. Caesar grips her wrist, and looks
steadfastly at her. She stands like a martyr.)

CAESAR. The Queen must face Caesar alone. Answer "So be it."

CLEOPATRA (white). So be it.

CAESAR (releasing her). Good.

A tramp and tumult of armed men is heard. Cleopatra's terror increases.
The bucina sounds close at hand, followed by a formidable clangor of
trumpets. This is too much for Cleopatra: she utters a cry and darts
towards the door. Ftatateeta stops her ruthlessly.

FTATATEETA. You are my nursling. You have said "So be it"; and if you
die for it, you must make the Queen's word good. (She hands Cleopatra to
Caesar, who takes her back, almost beside herself with apprehension, to
the throne.)

CAESAR. Now, if you quail--! (He seats himself on the throne.)

She stands on the step, all but unconscious, waiting for death. The
Roman soldiers tro