he tasks of one whom
so bitterly I hate!--one who robbed me of thee, and who, through the
workings of my jealousy, brought me to be that which I am, brought
thee to shame, and all Egypt to its ruin! Can jewels and riches and the
flattery of princes and nobles bring happiness to such a one as I, who
am more wretched than the meanest scullion wench? Oh, I have often wept
till I was blind; and then, when the hour came, I must arise and tire
me, and, with a smile, go do the bidding of the Queen and that heavy
Antony. May the Gods grant me to see them dead--ay, the twain of
them!--then myself I shall be content to die! Thy lot has been hard,
Harmachis; but at least thou have been free, and many is the time that I
have envied thee the quiet of thy haunted cave."

"I do perceive, O Charmion, that thou art mindful of thy oaths; and it
is well, for the hour of vengeance is at hand."

"I am mindful, and in all things I have worked for thee in secret--for
thee, and for the utter ruin of Cleopatra and the Roman. I have fanned
his passion and her jealousy, I have egged her on to wickedness and
him to folly, and of all have I caused report to be brought to Caesar.
Listen! thus stands the matter. Thou knowest how went the fight at
Actium. Thither went Cleopatra with her fleet, sorely against the will
of Antony. But, as thou sentest me word, I entreated him for the Queen,
vowing to him, with tears, that, did he leave her, she would die of
grief; and he, poor slave, believed me. And so she went, and in the
thick of the fight, for what cause I know not, though perchance thou
knowest, Harmachis, she made signal to her squadron, and, putting about
fled from the battle, sailing for Peloponnesus. And now, mark the end!
When Antony saw that she was gone, he, in his madness, took a galley,
and deserting all, followed hard after her, leaving his fleet to be
shattered and sunk, and his great army in Greece, of twenty legions
and twelve thousand horse, without a leader. And all this no man would
believe, that Antony, the smitten of the Gods, had fallen so deep in
shame. Therefore for a while the army tarried, and but now to-night
comes news brought by Canidius, the General, that, worn with doubt and
being at length sure that Antony had deserted them, the whole of his
great force has yielded to Caesar."

"And where, then, is Antony?"

"He has built him a habitation on a little isle in the Great Harbour and
named it Timonium; because, forsooth,