if I allow myself to injure a friend through idle apprehensions; and he
who stands so high that men fear that he may try to rise above Rameses,
seems to me to be worthy of Bent-Anat. Woo her, and, should she consent
freely, the marriage may be celebrated on the day when I return home.
You are young enough to make a wife happy, and your mature wisdom will
guard my child from misfortune. Bent-Anat shall know that her father,
and king, encourages your suit; but pray too to the Hathors, that they
may influence Bent-Anat's heart in your favor, for to her decision we
must both submit."

The Regent had changed color several times while reading this letter.
Now he laid it on the table with a shrug of his shoulders, stood up,
clasped his hand behind him, and, with his eyes cast meditatively on the
floor, leaned against one of the pillars which supported the beams of the
roof.

The longer he thought, the less amiable his expression became. "A pill
sweetened with honey,

[Two recipes for pills are found in the papyri, one with honey for
women, and one without for men.]

such as they give to women," he muttered to himself. Then he went back
to the table, read the king's letter through once more, and said: "One
may learn from it how to deny by granting, and at the same time not to
forget to give it a brilliant show of magnanimity. Rameses knows his
daughter. She is a girl like any other, and will take good care not to
choose a man twice as old as herself, and who might be her father.
Rameses will 'submit'--I am to I submit!' And to what? to the judgment
and the choice of a wilful child!"