the psychological interest of it. For whether it be that Pausanias
supposed himself, or that contemporary gossips supposed him, to be
haunted by the phantom of the woman he had loved and slain, the fact,
in either case, affords a lurid glimpse into the inner life of
the man;--just as, although Goethe's murder-story about Byron is
ludicrously untrue, yet the fact that such a story was circulated,
and could be seriously repeated by such a man as Goethe without being
resented by Byron himself, offers significant illustration both of
what Byron was, and of what he appeared to his contemporaries. Grote
also assigns the death of Cleonice to that period in the life of
Pausanias when he was in the command of the allies at Byzantium; and
refers to it as one of the numerous outrages whereby Pausanias abused
and disgraced the authority confided to him. Plutarch, however, who
tells the story in greater detail, distinctly fixes the date of its
catastrophe subsequent to the return of the Regent to Byzantium, as a
solitary volunteer, in the trireme of Hermione. The following is his
account of the affair:

"It is related that Pausanias, when at Byzantium, sought, with
criminal purpose, the love of a young lady of good family, named
Cleonice. The parents yielding to fear, or necessity, suffered him to
carry away their daughter. Before entering his chamber, she requested
that the light might be extinguished; and in darkness and silence she
approached the couch of Pausanias, who was already asleep. In so doing
she accidentally upset the lamp. Pausanias, suddenly aroused from
slumber, and supposing that some enemy was about to assassinate him,
seized his sword, which lay by his bedside, and with it struck the
maiden to the ground. She died of her wound; and from that moment
repose was banished from the life of Pausanias. A spectre appeared to
him every night in his sleep; and repeated to him in reproachful tones