Cleopatra: Chapter 15

Chapter 15

OF THE FEAST OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE MELTING OF THE PEARL; OF THE SAYING OF
HARMACHIS; AND OF CLEOPATRA'S VOW OF LOVE

On the third night the feast was once more prepared in the hall of the
great house that had been set aside to the use of Cleopatra, and on this
night its splendour was greater even than on the nights before. For the
twelve couches that were set about the table were embossed with gold,
and those of Cleopatra and Antony were of gold set with jewels. The
dishes also were all of gold set with jewels, the walls were hung with
purple cloths sewn with gold, and on the floor, covered with a net of
gold, fresh roses were strewn ankle-deep, that as the slaves trod them
sent up their perfume. Once again I was bidden to stand, with Charmion
and Iras and Merira, behind the couch of Cleopatra, and, like a slave,
from time to time call out the hours as they flew. And there being no
help, I went wild at heart; but this I swore--it should be for the last
time, since I could not bear that shame. For though I would not yet
believe what Charmion told me--that Cleopatra was about to become the
Love of Antony--yet I could no more endure this ignominy and torture.
For from Cleopatra now I had no words save such as a Queen speaks to her
slave, and methinks it gave her dark heart pleasure to torment me.

Thus it came to pass that I, the Pharaoh, crowned of Khem, stood among
eunuchs and waiting-women behind the couch of Egypt's Queen while the
feast went merrily and the wine-cup passed. And ever Antony sat, his
eyes fixed upon the face of Cleopatra, who from time to time let her
deep glance lose itself in his, and then for a little while their
talk died away. For he told her tales of war and of deeds that he had
done--ay, and love-jests such as are not meet for the ears of women. But
she took offence at nothing; rather, falling into his humour, she would
cap his stories with others of a finer wit, but not less shameless.

At length, the rich meal being finished, Antony gazed at the splendour
around him.

"Tell me, then, most lovely Egypt," he said; "are the sands of Nile
compact of gold, that thou canst, night by night, thus squander the
ransom of a King upon a single feast? Whence comes this untold wealth?"

I bethought me of the tomb of the Divine Menkau-ra, whose holy treasure
was thus wickedly wasted, and looked up so that Cleopatra's eye caught
mine; but, reading my thoughts, she frowned heavily.

"Why, noble Antony," she said, "surely it is nothing! In Egypt we have
our secrets, and know whence to conjure riches at our need. Say, what is
the value of this golden service, and of the meats and drinks that have
been set before us?"

He cast his eyes about, and hazarded a guess.

"Maybe a thousand sestertia."[*]

[*] About eight thousand pounds of English money.--Editor.

"Thou hast understated it by half, noble Antony! But such as it is I
will give it thee and those with thee as a free token of my friendship.
And more will I show thee now: I myself will eat and drink ten thousand
sestertia at a draught."

"That cannot be, fair Egypt!"

She laughed, and bade a slave bring her white vinegar in a glass. When
it was brought she set it before her and laughed again, while Antony,
rising from his couch, drew near and set himself at her side, and all
the company leant forward to see what she would do. And this she did.
She took from her ear one of those great pearls which last of all had
been drawn from the body of the Divine Pharaoh; and before any could
guess her purpose she let it fall into the vinegar. Then came silence,
the silence of wonder, and slowly the priceless pearl melted in the
strong acid. When it was melted she lifted the glass and shook it, then
drank the vinegar, to the last drop.

"More vinegar, slave!" she cried; "my meal is but half finished!" and
she drew forth the second pearl.

"By Bacchus, no! that shalt thou not!" cried Antony, snatching at her
hands; "I have seen enough;" and at that moment, moved to it by I know
not what, I called aloud:

"The hour falls, O Queen!--_the hour of the coming of the curse of
Menkau-ra!_"

An ashy whiteness grew upon Cleopatra's face, and she turned upon me
furiously, while all the company gazed wondering, not knowing what the
words might mean.

"Thou ill-omened slave!" she cried. "Speak thus once more and thou shalt
be scourged with rods!--ay, scourged like an evildoer--that I promise
thee, Harmachis!"

"What means the knave of an astrologer?" asked Antony. "Speak, sirrah!
and make clear thy meaning, for those who deal in curses must warrant
their wares."

"I am a servant of the Gods, noble Antony. That which the Gods put in my
mind that must I say; nor can I read their meaning," I answered humbly.

"Oh, oh! thou servest the Gods, dost thou, thou many-coloured mystery?"
This he said having reference to my splendid robes. "Well, I serve the
Goddesses, which is a softer cult. And there's this between us:
that though what they put in my mind I say, neither can I read their
meaning," and he glanced at Cleopatra as one who questions.

"Let the knave be," she said impatiently; "to-morrow we'll be rid of
him. Sirrah, begone!"

I bowed and went; and, as I went, I heard Antony say: "Well, he may be
a knave--for that all men are--but this for thy astrologer: he hath a
royal air and the eye of a King--ay, and wit in it."

Without the door I paused, not knowing what to do, for I was bewildered
with misery. And, as I stood, someone touched me on the hand. I glanced
up--it was Charmion, who in the confusion of the rising of the guests,
had slipped away and followed me.

For in trouble Charmion was ever at my side.

"Follow me," she whispered; "thou art in danger."

I turned and followed her. Why should I not?

"Whither go we?" I asked at length.

"To my chamber," she said. "Fear not; we ladies of Cleopatra's Court
have small good fame to lose; if anyone by chance should see us, they'll
think that it is a love-tryst, and such are all the fashion."

I followed, and, presently, skirting the crowd, we came unseen to a
little side entrance that led to a stair, up which we passed. The stair
ended in a passage; we turned down it till we found a door on the left
hand. Charmion entered silently, and I followed her into a dark chamber.
Being in, she barred the door and, kindling tinder to a flame, lit a
hanging lamp. As the light grew strong I gazed around. The chamber was
not large, and had but one casement, closely shuttered. For the rest, it
was simply furnished, having white walls, some chests for garments, an
ancient chair, what I took to be a tiring table, on which were combs,
perfumes, and all the frippery that pertains to woman, and a white bed
with a broidered coverlid, over which was hung a gnat-gauze.

"Be seated, Harmachis," she said, pointing to the chair. I took the
chair, and Charmion, throwing back the gnat-gauze, sat herself upon the
bed before me.

"Knowest thou what I heard Cleopatra say as thou didst leave the
banqueting-hall?" she asked presently.

"Nay, I know not."

"She gazed after thee, and, as I went over to her to do some service,
she murmured to herself: 'By Serapis, I will make an end! I will wait no
longer: to-morrow he shall be strangled!'"

"So!" I said, "it may be; though, after all that has been, I can scarce
believe that she will murder me."

"Why canst thou not believe it, thou most foolish of men? Dost forget
how nigh thou wast to death there in the Alabaster Hall? Who saved thee
then from the knives of the eunuchs? Was it Cleopatra? Or was it I and
Brennus? Stay, I will tell thee. Thou canst not yet believe it, because,
in thy folly, thou dost not think it possible that the woman who has but
lately been as a wife to thee can now, in so short a time, doom thee to
be basely done to death. Nay, answer not--I know all; and I tell thee
this: thou hast not measured the depth of Cleopatra's perfidy, nor canst
thou dream the blackness of her wicked heart. She had surely slain thee
in Alexandria had she not feared that thy slaughter being noised abroad
might bring trouble on her. Therefore has she brought thee here to kill
thee secretly. For what more canst thou give her? She has thy heart's
love, and is wearied of thy strength and beauty. She has robbed thee
of thy royal birthright and brought thee, a King, to stand amidst the
waiting-women behind her at her feasts; she has won from thee the great
secret of the holy treasure!"

"Ah, thou knowest that?"

"Yes, I know all; and to-night thou seest how the wealth stored against
the need of Khem is being squandered to fill up the wanton luxury of
Khem's Macedonian Queen! Thou seest how she has kept her oath to wed
thee honourably. Harmachis--at length thine eyes are open to the truth!"

"Ay, I see too well; and yet she swore she loved me, and I, poor fool, I
believed her!"

"She swore she loved thee!" answered Charmion, lifting her dark eyes:
"now I will show thee how she loves thee. Knowest thou what was this
house? It was a priest's college; and, as thou wottest, Harmachis,
priests have their ways. This little room aforetime was the room of
the Head Priest, and the chamber that is beyond and below was the
gathering-place of the other priests. The old slave who keeps the house
told me all this, and also she revealed what I shall show thee. Now,
Harmachis, be silent as the dead, and follow me!"

She blew out the lamp, and by the little light that crept through the
shuttered casement led me by the hand to the far corner of the room.
Here she pressed upon the wall, and a door opened in its thickness. We
entered, and she closed the spring. Now we were in a little chamber,
some five cubits in length by four in breadth; for a faint light
struggled into the closet, and also the sound of voices, I knew not
whence. Loosing my hand, she crept to the end of the place, and looked
steadfastly at the wall; then crept back and, whispering "Silence!" led
me forward with her. Then I saw that there were eyeholes in the wall,
which pierced it, and were hidden on the farther side by carved work
in stone. I looked through the hole that was in front of me, and I saw
this: six cubits below was the level of the floor of another chamber,
lit with fragrant lamps, and most richly furnished. It was the
sleeping-place of Cleopatra, and there, within ten cubits of where we
stood, sat Cleopatra on a gilded couch, and by her side sat Antony.

"Tell me," Cleopatra murmured--for this place was so built that
every word spoken in the room below came to the ears of the listener
above--"tell me, noble Antony, wast pleased with my poor festival?"

"Ay," he answered in his deep soldier's voice, "ay, Egypt, I have made
feasts, and been bidden to feasts, but never saw I aught like thine; and
I tell thee this, though I am rough of tongue and unskilled in pretty
sayings such as women love, thou wast the richest sight of all that
splendid board. The red wine was not so red as thy beauteous cheek, the
roses smelt not so sweet as the odour of thy hair, and no sapphire there
with its changing light was so lovely as thy eyes of ocean blue."

"What! Praise from Antony! Sweet words from the lips of him whose
writings are so harsh! Why, it is praise indeed!"

"Ay," he went on, "it was a royal feast, though I grieve that thou didst
waste that great pearl; and what meant that hour-calling astrologer of
thine, with his ill-omened talk of the curse of Menkau-ra?"

A shadow fled across her glowing face. "I know not; he was lately
wounded in a brawl, and methinks the blow has crazed him."

"He seemed not crazed, and there was that about his voice which rings in
my ears like some oracle of fate. So wildly, too, he looked upon thee,
Egypt, with those piercing eyes of his, like one who loved and yet hated
through the love."

"He is a strange man, I tell thee, noble Antony, and a learned. Myself,
at times, I almost fear him, for he is deeply versed in the ancient
arts of Egypt. Knowest thou that the man is of royal blood, and once he
plotted to slay me? But I won him over, and slew him not, for he had the
key to secrets that I fain would learn; and, indeed, I loved his wisdom,
and to listen to his deep talk of all hidden things."

"By Bacchus, I grow jealous of the knave! And now, Egypt?"

"And now I have sucked his knowledge dry, and have no more cause to fear
him. Didst thou not see that I have made him stand these three nights a
slave amid my slaves, and call aloud the hours as they fled in festival.
No captive King marching in thy Roman triumphs can have suffered pangs
so keen as that proud Egyptian Prince when he stood shamed behind my
couch."

Here Charmion laid her hand on mine and pressed it, as though in
tenderness.

"Well, he shall trouble us no more with his words of evil omen,"
Cleopatra went on slowly; "to-morrow morn he dies--dies swiftly and in
secret, leaving no trace of what his fate has been. On this is my mind
fixed; of a truth, noble Antony, it is fixed. Even as I speak the fear
of this man grows and gathers in my breast. Half am I minded to give the
word even now, for I breathe not freely till he be dead," and she made
as though to rise.

"Let it be till morning," he said, catching her by the hand; "the
soldiers drink, and the deed will be ill done. 'Tis pity too. I love not
to think of men slaughtered in their sleep."

"In the morning, perchance, the hawk may have flown," she answered,
pondering. "He hath keen ears, this Harmachis, and can summon things to
aid him that are not of the earth. Perchance, even now he hears me in
the spirit; for, of a truth, I seem to feel his presence breathing
round me. I could tell thee--but no, let him be! Noble Antony, be my
tiring-woman and loose me this crown of gold, it chafes my brow. Be
gentle, hurt me not--so."

He lifted the ur�us crown from her brows, and she shook loose her heavy
weight of hair that fell about her like a garment.

"Take back thy crown, royal Egypt," he said, speaking low, "take it from
my hand; I will not rob thee of it, but rather set it more firmly on
that beauteous brow."

"What means my Lord?" she asked, smiling and looking into his eyes.

"What mean I? Why then, this: thou camest hither at my bidding to make
answer of the charges laid against thee as to matters politic. And
knowest thou, Egypt, that hadst thou been other than thou art thou
hadst not gone back to queen it on the Nile; for of this I am sure, the
charges against thee are true in fact. But, being what thou art--and
look thou! never did Nature serve a woman better!--I forgive thee all.
For the sake of thy grace and beauty I forgive thee that which had not
been forgiven to virtue, or to patriotism, or to the dignity of age! See
now how good a thing is woman's wit and loveliness, that can make kings
forget their duty and cozen even blindfolded Justice to peep ere she
lifts her sword! Take back thy crown, O Egypt! It is now my care that,
though it be heavy, it shall not chafe thee."

"These are royal words, most notable Antony," she made answer; "gracious
and generous words, such as befit the Conqueror of the world! And
touching my misdeeds in the past--if misdeeds there have been--I say
this, and this alone--then I knew not Antony. For, knowing Antony, who
could sin against him? What woman could lift a sword against one who
must be to all women as a God--one who, seen and known, draws after him
the whole allegiance of the heart, as the sun draws flowers? And what
more can I say and not cross the bounds of woman's modesty? Why, only
this--set that crown upon my brow, great Antony, and I will take it as
a gift from thee, by the giving made doubly dear, and to thy uses I will
guard it.

"There, now I am thy vassal Queen, and through me all old Egypt that I
rule does homage to Antony the Triumvir, who shall be Antony the Emperor
of Rome and Khem's Imperial Lord!"

And, having set the crown upon her locks, he stood gazing on her, grown
passionate in the warm breath of her living beauty, till at length
he caught her by both hands and drawing her to him kissed her thrice,
saying:

"Cleopatra, I love thee, Sweet--I love thee as I never loved before."
She drew back from his embrace, smiling softly; and as she did so the
golden circlet of the sacred snakes fell, being but loosely set upon her
brow, and rolled away into the darkness beyond the ring of light.

I saw the omen, and even in the bitter anguish of my heart knew its evil
import. But these twain took no note.

"Thou lovest me?" she said, most sweetly; "how know I that thou lovest
me? Perchance it is Fulvia whom thou lovest--Fulvia, thy wedded wife?"

"Nay, it is not Fulvia, 'tis thou, Cleopatra, and thou alone. Many women
have looked favourably upon me from my boyhood up, but to never a one
have I known such desire as to thee, O thou Wonder of the World, like
unto whom no woman ever was! Canst thou love me, Cleopatra, and to me
be true, not for my place or power, not for that which I can give or can
withhold, not for the stern music of my legion's tramp, or for the light
that flows from my bright Star of Fortune; but for myself, for the sake
of Antony, the rough captain, grown old in camps? Ay, for the sake of
Antony the reveller, the frail, the unfixed of purpose, but who yet
never did desert a friend, or rob a poor man, or take an enemy unawares?
Say, canst thou love me, Egypt? Oh! if thou wilt, why, I am more happy
than though I sat to-night in the Capitol at Rome crowned absolute
Monarch of the World!"

And, ever as he spoke, she gazed on him with wonderful eyes, and in them
shone a light of truth and honesty such as was strange to me.

"Thou speakest plainly," she said, "and thy words are sweet to mine
ears--they would be sweet, even were things otherwise than they are,
for what woman would not love to see the world's master at her feet? But
things being as they are, why, Antony, what can be so sweet as thy sweet
words? The harbour of his rest to the storm-tossed mariner--surely that
is sweet! The dream of Heaven's bliss which cheers the poor ascetic
priest on his path of sacrifice--surely that is sweet! The sight of
Dawn, the rosy-fingered, coming in his promise to glad the watching
Earth--surely that is sweet! But, ah! not one of these, nor all dear
delightful things that are, can match the honey-sweetness of thy words
to me, O Antony! For thou knowest not--never canst thou know--how drear
my life hath been, and empty, since thus it is ordained that in love
only can woman lose her solitude! And I have _never_ loved--never might
I love--till this happy night! Ay, take me in thy arms, and let us swear
a great vow of love--an oath that may not be broken while life is in
us! Behold! Antony! now and for ever I do vow most strict fidelity unto
thee! Now and for ever I am thine, and thine alone!"

Then Charmion took me by the hand and drew me thence.

"Hast seen enough?" she asked, when we were once more within the chamber
and the lamp was lit.

"Yea," I answered; "my eyes are opened."

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