arthian ambassadors, which had begun an hour ago,
were brought to a conclusion. Philostratus well knew that the emperor
would interrupt the most important business if Melissa were announced,
but there was much that he would have the maiden lay to heart before
he led her to the monarch; while she wished for nothing so earnestly as
that the door which separated her from her terrible wooer might remain
closed to the end of time. When the chamberlain Adventus looked out from
the imperial apartments, she begged him to give her a little time before
announcing her.

The old man blinked consent with his dim eyes, but the philosopher took
care that Melissa should not be left to herself and the terrors of
her heart. He employed all the eloquence at his command to make her
comprehend what it meant to be an empress and the consort of the ruler
of the world. In flaming colors he painted to her the good she might do
in such a position, and the tears she might wipe away. Then he reminded
her of the healing and soothing influence she had over Caracalla, and
that this influence came doubtless from the gods, since it passed the
bounds of nature and acted so beneficently. No one might reject such a
gift from the immortals merely to gratify an ordinary passion. The youth
whose love she must give up would be able to comfort himself with the
thought that many others had had much worse to bear, and he would find
no difficulty in getting a substitute, though not so beautiful a one.
On the other hand, she was the only one among millions whose heart,
obedient to a heaven-sent impulse, had turned in pity toward Caracalla.
If she fled, she would deprive the emperor of the only being on whose
love he felt he had some claim. If she listened to the wooing of her
noble lover, she would be able to tame this ungovernable being and
soothe his fury, and would gain in return for a sacrifice such as many
had made before her, the blissful consciousness of having rendered an
inestimable service to the whole world. For by her means and her love,
the imperial tyrant would be transformed into a beneficent ruler. The
blessing of the thousands whom she could protect and save would make the
hardest task sweet and endurable.

Here Philostratus paused, and gazed inquiringly at her; but she only
shook her head gently, and answered:

"My brain is so confused that I can scarcely hear even, but I feel
that your words are well meant and wise. What you put before me woul