humiliation laid
upon me by the Almighty--still, I give it my sanction and blessing, and
I will do freely and with my whole heart if my son's bride brings as her
marriage-portion the one thing which is the first and last aim of all my
desires: The everlasting glory of Apelles. The martyr's crown will open
the gates of Heaven to him--who was your father, too, Demetrius. Gain
that and I myself will lead the singer to my son's arms."

"That is a bargain!" cried Demetrius--and soon after midnight he had
retired to rest, after seeing Mary fulfil her promise to give a parental
blessing to the betrothed pair.

A few weeks later Dada and Gorgo were both baptized, and both by the
name of Cecilia; and then, at Mary's special entreaty, Marcus' marriage
was solemnized with much pomp by the Bishop himself.

Still, and in spite of the lavish demonstrations of more than motherly
affection which the widow showered her daughter-in-law, Dada felt a
stranger, and ill at ease in the great house in the Canopic way. When
Demetrius, a few weeks after their marriage, proposed Marcus that he
should undertake the management of family estates in Cyrenaica, she
jumped at the suggestion; and Marcus at once decided to act upon it
when his brother promised to remain with him for the first year or two,
helping him with his advice and instructions.

Their fears lest Mary should oppose the project, proved unfounded; for,
though the widow declared that life would be a burden to her without her
children, she soon acceded to her son's wishes and admitted that they
were kind and wise. She need not fear isolation, for, as the widow of
the martyred Apelles, she was the recognized leader of the Christian
sisterhood in the town, and preferred working in a larger circle than
that of the family. She always spoke with enthusiasm to her visitors
of her daughter-in-law Cecilia, of her beauty, her piety and her
gentleness; in fact, she did all she could to make it appear that she
herself had chosen her son's wife. But she did not care to keep this
"beloved daughter" with her in Alexandria, for the foremost position in
every department of social life was far more certain to be conceded to
the noble widow of a "martyred witness" in the absence of the pretty
little converted singer.

So the young couple moved to Cyrenaica, and Dada was happy in learning
to govern her husband's large estates with prudence and good sense. The
gay singing-girl became a capable housewi