tra hast
cast thee from her--now that thou art poor and shamed and with no pillow
to thy head? Still am I fair, and still I worship thee. Let me fly with
thee, and make atonement for my lifelong love. Or, if this be too great
a thing to ask, let me be but as thy sister and thy servant--thy very
slave, so that I may still look upon thy face, and share thy trouble
and minister to thee. O Harmachis, let me but come and I will brave all
things and endure all things, and nothing but Death himself shall stay
me from thy side. For I do believe that the love that sank me to so low
a depth, dragging thee with me, can yet lift me to an equal height, and
thee with me!"

"Wouldst tempt me to fresh sin, woman? And dost thou think, Charmion,
that in some hovel where I must hide, I could bear, day by day, to look
upon thy fair face, and seeing, remember that those lips betrayed me?
Not thus easily shalt thou atone! This I know even now: many and heavy
shall be thy lonely days of penance! Perchance that hour of vengeance
yet may come, and perchance thou shalt live to play thy part in it. Thou
must still abide in the Court of Cleopatra; and, while thou art there,
if I yet live, I will from time to time find means to give thee tidings.
Perhaps a day may dawn when once more I shall need thy service. Now,
swear that, in this event, thou wilt not fail me a second time."

"I swear, Harmachis!--I swear! May everlasting torments, too hideous to
be dreamed--more hideous, even, by far, than those that wring me now--be
my portion if I fail thee in one jot or tittle--ay, though I wait a
lifetime for thy word!"

"It is well; see that thou keep the oath--not twice may we betray. I go
to work out my fate; abide thou to work out thine. Perchance our divers
threads will once more mingle ere the web be spun. Charmion, who unasked
didst love me--and who, prompted by that gentle love of thine, didst
betray and ruin me--fare thee well!"

She gazed wildly upon my face--she stretched out her arms as though to
clasp me; then, in the agony of her despair, she cast herself at length
and grovelled upon the ground.

I took up the sack of clothing and the staff and gained the door, and,
as I passed it, I threw one last glance upon her. There she lay, with
arms outstretched--more white than her white robes--her dark hair
streaming about her, and her fair brows hidden in the dust.

And thus I left her, nor did I again set my eyes upon her till nine long
years