. It might be managed, perhaps; for it was I who sent that
beautiful young man to help your father.

CLEOPATRA (enraptured). You know him!

CAESAR (nodding). I do.

CLEOPATRA. Has he come with you? (Caesar shakes his head: she is cruelly
disappointed.) Oh, I wish he had, I wish he had. If only I were a little
older; so that he might not think me a mere kitten, as you do! But
perhaps that is because YOU are old. He is many, MANY years younger than
you, is he not?

CAESAR (as if swallowing a pill). He is somewhat younger.

CLEOPATRA. Would he be my husband, do you think, if I asked him?

CAESAR. Very likely.

CLEOPATRA. But I should not like to ask him. Could you not persuade him
to ask me--without knowing that I wanted him to?

CAESAR (touched by her innocence of the beautiful young man's
character). My poor child!

CLEOPATRA. Why do you say that as if you were sorry for me? Does he love
anyone else?

CAESAR. I am afraid so.

CLEOPATRA (tearfully). Then I shall not be his first love.

CAESAR. Not quite the first. He is greatly admired by women.

CLEOPATRA. I wish I could be the first. But if he loves me, I will make
him kill all the rest. Tell me: is he still beautiful? Do his strong
round arms shine in the sun like marble?

CAESAR. He is in excellent condition--considering how much he eats and
drinks.

CLEOPATRA. Oh, you must not say common, earthly things about him; for I
love him. He is a god.

CAESAR. He is a great captain of horsemen, and swifter of foot than any
other Roman.

CLEOPATRA. What is his real name?

CAESAR (puzzled). His REAL name?

CLEOPATRA. Yes. I always call him Horus, because Horus is the most
beautiful of our gods. But I want to know his real name.

CAESAR. His name is Mark Antony.

CLEOPATRA (musically). Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony! What a
beautiful name! (She throws her arms round Caesar's neck.) Oh, how I
love you for sending him to help my father! Did you love my father very
much?

CAESAR. No, my child; but your father, as you say, never worked. I
always work. So when he lost his crown he had to promise me 16,000
talents to get it back for him.

CLEOPATRA. Did he ever pay you?

CAESAR. Not in full.

CLEOPATRA. He was quite right: it was too dear. The whole world is not
worth 16,000 talents.

CAESAR. That is perhaps true, Cleopatra. Those Egyptians who work paid
as much of it as he could drag from them. The rest is still due. But as
I most likely sh