At the threshold her hand fell from his arm, and when he bowed as if to
retire, she said kindly: "There is Charmian. You both deserve to
accompany me to the spot where childhood is dreaming and peace of mind
and painlessness have their abode. But respect for the Queen has
prevented the brother and sister from greeting each other after so
long a separation. Do so now! Then, follow me."

While speaking, she hastened with the swift step of youth into the atrium
and up the staircase which led to the sleeping-rooms of the princes and
princesses.

Archibius and Charmian obeyed her bidding; the brother clasped his sister
affectionately in his arms, and in hurried tones, with tears streaming
from her eyes, she informed him that to her all seemed lost.

Antony had behaved in a manner for which no words of condemnation or
regret were adequate. Probably he would follow Cleopatra; the fleet, and
perhaps the army also, were destroyed. Her fate lay in the hands of
Octavianus.

Then she preceded him towards the staircase, where Iras was standing with
a tall Syrian, who bore a striking resemblance to Philostratus, Barine's
former husband. It was his brother Alexas, the trusted favourite of Mark
Antony. His place should now have been with him, and Archibius asked his
sister with a hasty look how this man chanced to be in the Queen's train.

"His skill in reading the stars," was the reply. "His flattering tongue.
He is a parasite of the worst kind, but he tells her many things,
he diverts her, and she tolerates him near her person."