"Poor, poor Queen!" cried Charmian; "how did she bear all this?"

"In the presence of the defeated Candidus and Antony's messenger like a
heroine. But afterwards----Her raving did not last long; but the mute,
despairing silence! Ere she had fully recovered her self-command she
sent us all away, and I have not seen her since. But all the thoughts
and feelings which dwell here"--he pointed to his brow and breast--"have
left their abode and linger with her. I totter from place to place like
a soulless body. O Charmian! what has befallen us? Where are the days
when care and trouble lay buried with the other dead--the days and nights
when my brain united with that of the Queen to transform this desolate
earth into the beautiful Elysian Fields, every-day life to a festival,
festivals to the very air of Olympus? What unprecedented scenes of
splendour had I not devised for the celebration of the victory, the
triumph--nay, even the entry into Rome! Whole chests are filled with the
sketches, programmes, drawings, and verses. All who handle brush and
chisel, compose and execute music, would have lent their aid, and--you
may believe me-the result would have been something which future
generations would have discussed, lauded, and extolled in song.
And now--now?"

"Now we will double our efforts to save what is yet to be rescued!"

"Rescued?" repeated the courtier in a hollow tone. "The Queen, too,
still clings to this fine word. When I saw her at work yesterday, it
seemed as if I beheld her drawing water with the bottomless vessel of the
Danaides. True, today, when I left her, her arms had fallen--and in this
attitude she now stands before me with her tearful eyes. And besides, I
can't get my nephew Dion out of my mind. Cares--nothing but cares
concerning him! And my intentions towards him were so kind! My will