Cleopatra | Page 7

suggested this conjecture, yet I cannot credit her with such
unworthy intrigues," cried Gorgias.
"Credit her?" repeated Dion, shrugging his shoulders. "I only transport
myself in imagination to the court and to the soul of the woman who
helps make rain and sunshine there. You have columns rounded and
beams hewed that they may afterwards support the roof to which in due
time you wish to direct attention. She and all who have a voice in the
management of court affairs look first at the roof and then seek
anything to raise and support it, though it should be corpses, ruined
lives, and broken hearts. The point is that the roof shall stand until the
architect, the Queen, sees and approves it. As to the rest--But there is
the carriage--It doubtless brings--You were--"
He paused, laid his hand on his friend's arm, and whispered hastily:
"Iras is undoubtedly at the bottom of this, and it is not Antyllus, but
yonder dreaming lad, for whom she is moving. When she spoke of the
statues just now, she asked in the same breath where I had seen him on
the evening of the day before yesterday, and that was the very time he
called on Barine. The plot was made by her, and Iras is doing all the
work. The mouse is not caught while the trap is closed, and she is just

raising her little hand to open it."
"If only she does not use some man's hand," replied the architect
wrathfully, and then turned towards the carriage and the elderly man
who had just left it, and was now approaching the two friends.

CHAPTER II.
When Caesarion's companion reached Dion and Gorgias, the former
modestly made a movement to retire. But Archibius was acquainted
with both, and begged him to remain. There was an air of precision and
clearness in the voice and quiet movements of this big,
broad-shouldered man, with his robust frame and well-developed limbs.
Though only a few years beyond forty, not merely his grey hair but the
calm, impressive dignity of his whole manner indicated a more
advanced age.
"The young King yonder," he began in a deep, musical voice,
motioning towards the equipage, "wished to speak to you here in
person, Gorgias, but by my advice he refrained from mingling with the
crowd. I have brought him hither in a closed carriage. If the plan suits
you, enter it and talk with him while I keep watch here. Strange things
seem to be occurring, and yonder--or am I mistaken? Has the monster
dragged along there any connection with the twin statues of the Queen
and her friend? Was it you who selected that place for them?"
"No," replied the architect. "The order was issued over my head and
against my will."
"I thought so," replied the other. "This is the very matter of which
Caesarion wishes to speak. If you can prevent the erection of the statues
on Didymus's land, so much the better. I will do everything in my
power to aid you, but in the Queen's absence that is little."
"Then what can be said of my influence?" asked the architect. "Who, in
these days, knows whether the sky will be blue or grey to-morrow? I
can guarantee one thing only: I will do my best to prevent this injury of
an estimable citizen, interference with the laws of our city, and

violation of good taste."
"Say so to the young King, but express yourself cautiously," replied
Archibius as the architect turned towards the carriage.
As soon as Dion and the older man were alone, the latter inquired the
cause of the increasing uproar, and as, like every well-disposed
Alexandrian, he esteemed Archibius, and knew that he was intimately
acquainted with the owner of the imperilled garden, and therefore with
his granddaughter Barine, he confided his anxiety to him without
reserve.
"Iras is your niece, it is true," he said in his open-hearted manner, "but I
know that you understand her character. It suits her now to fling a
golden apple into the path of a person whom she dislikes and believes
incautious, that she may pick it up and thus afford her an opportunity to
bring a charge of theft."
Noting the inquiring glance Archibius fixed upon him as he made this
comparison, he changed his tone and continued more earnestly: "Zeus
is great, but destiny is superior even to him. Zeus can accomplish much,
but when Iras and your sister Charmian, who unfortunately is now with
the Queen, wish to effect anything, he, like the Regent Mardion, must
give way. The more lovable Cleopatra is, the more surely every one
prizes a position near her person above aught else, especially such
trifles as law and justice."
"These are harsh words," responded Archibius,