possibly have killed her, if his mother had not thrown herself into his
arms and exposed her own body to his mad blows.

Her voice and action checked his rage, for he had not lost reverence for
his mother; but her look of intense anger and contempt, which he clearly
saw and could not forget, begot a fresh delusion in his mind. He
believed from that moment, that the eyes of women had power to poison
him; he started and hid himself behind his companions whenever he saw a
woman, and at last commanded that all the female inhabitants of the
palace at Memphis, his mother not excepted, should be sent back to
Ecbatana. Araspes and Gyges were appointed to be their escort thither.

......................

The caravan of queens and princesses had arrived at Sais; they alighted
at the royal palace. Croesus had accompanied them thus far on their way
from Egypt.

Kassandane had altered very much during the last few years. Grief and
suffering had worn deep lines in her once beautiful face, though they had
had no power to bow her stately figure.

Atossa, on the contrary, was more beautiful than ever, notwithstanding
all she had suffered. The refractory and impetuous child, the daring
spirited girl, had developed into a dignified, animated and determined
woman. The serious side of life, and three sad years passed with her
ungovernable husband and brother, had been first-rate masters in the
school of patience, but they had not been able to alienate her heart from
her first love. Sappho's friendship had made up to her in some measure
for the loss of Darius.