Cleopatra — Volume 08 by Georg Ebers
page 36 of 62 (58%)
page 36 of 62 (58%)
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when he turned the corner of the building, stopped short in astonishment,
exclaiming as a low cry rose close before him: "Good-evening, Gorgias! I'll see you later. I won't interrupt you." A few rapid steps took him back to Barine, and as he whispered, "I saw Helena out in the moonlight, soothing her longing for her grandparents in Gorgias's arms," she clapped her hands and said, smiling: "That's the way one loses good manners in this solitude. To disturb the first meeting of a pair of lovers! But Gorgias treated us in the same way in Alexandria, so he is now paid in his own coin." The architect soon entered the room, with Helena leaning on his arm. Hour by hour he had missed her more and more painfully, and on the eighth day found it impossible to endure life's burden longer without her. He now protested that he could approach her mother and grandparents as a suitor with a clear conscience; for on the third day after Helena's departure the relation between him and the Queen had changed. In Cleopatra's presence the image of the granddaughter of Didymus became even more vivid than that of the peerless sovereign had formerly been in Helena's. Outside of the pages of poetry he had never experienced longing like that which had tortured him during the past few days. CHAPTER XXI. This time the architect could spend only a few hours on the Serpent |
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