Satiety and dissatisfaction were beginning to appear, and what he had
attempted to do for the cure of his eyes had hitherto been futile. The
remedies of the oculists to whom he had been directed by Daphne herself
had proved ineffectual. The great physician Erasistratus, from whom he
first sought help, had refrained, at her entreaty and her father's, from
refusing to aid him, but indignantly sent him away when he persisted in
the declaration that it would be impossible for him to remain for months
secluded from all society and subsist for weeks on scanty fare.

He would submit even to that, he assured Daphne, after she represented to
him what he was losing by such lack of resignation, when the time of rest
had come for which he longed, but from which many things still withheld
him. Yesterday the King had invited him to the palace for the first
time, and to decline such an honour was impossible.

In fact, he had long wished for this summons, because he had been
informed that no representative of the sovereign had been present at
his reception. Only his wife Arsinoe had honoured him by a wreath and
congratulations. This lack of interest on the part of the King had
wounded him, and the absence of an invitation from the royal connoisseur
had cast a shadow into the midst of many a mirthful hour. He had
doubtless been aware what great and important affairs of state were
claiming the conscientious sovereign just at this time, and how almost
unbearable his restless, unloving spouse was rendering his domestic life;
yet Hermon thought Ptolemy might have spared a short time for an event in
the art life of the city, as his Demeter had been called hundreds of
times.

Now the long-desired command to appear before the sovereign had finally
reached him, and, in the secure belief that it would bring fresh