Again there is a blank in my memory, or my vision. I suppose thatMagas and his daughter Heliodore arrived at the palace on the day of myinterview with Irene, of which I have told. I suppose that I welcomedthem and conducted them to the guest house that had been made ready forthem in the gardens. Doubtless, I listened eagerly to the first wordswhich Heliodore spoke to me, save that one in the cathedral, the wordof greeting. Doubtless, I asked her many things, and she gave me manyanswers. But of all this nothing remains.
What comes back to me is a picture of the Egyptian prince, Magas, andmyself seated at some meal in a chamber overlooking the moonlit palacegarden. We were alone, and this noble, white-bearded man, hook-nosedand hawk-eyed, was telling me of the troubles of his countrymen, theChristian Copts of Egypt.
"Look on me, sir," he said. "As I could prove to you, were it worthwhile, and as many could bear witness, for the records have been kept,I am a descendant in the true line from the ancient Pharaohs of mycountry. Moreover, my daughter, through her Grecian mother, is sprungfrom the Ptolemies. Our race is Christian, and has been for these threehundred years, although it was among the last to be converted. Yet,noble as we are, we suffer every wrong at the hands of the Moslems. Ourgoods and lands are doubly taxed, and, if we should go into the towns ofLower Egypt, we must wear garments on which the Cross is broidered asa badge of shame. Yet, where I live--near to the first cataract ofthe Nile, and not so very far from the city of old Thebes--theProphet-worshippers have no real power. I am still the true ruler ofthat district, as the Bishop Barnabas will tell you, and at any moment,were my standard to be lifted, I could call three thousand Coptic spearsto fight for Christ and Egypt. Moreover, if money were forthcoming, thehosts of Nubia could be raised, and together we might sweep down on theMoslems like the Nile in flood, and drive them back to Alexandria."
Then he went on to set out his plans, which in sum were that a Romanfleet and army should appear at the mouths of the Nile to besiege andcapture Alexandria, and, with his help, massacre or drive out everyMoslem in Egypt. The scheme, which he set forth with much detail, seemedfeasible enough, and when I had mastered its particulars I promised toreport it to the Empress, and afterwards to speak with him further.
I left the chamber, and presently stood in the garden. Although it wasautumn time, the night in this mild climate was very warm and pleasant,and the moonlight threw black shadows of the trees across the paths.Under one of these trees, an ancient, green-leaved oak, the largest ofa little grove, I saw a woman sitting. Perchance I knew who she was,perchance I had come thither to meet her, I cannot say. At least, thiswas not our first meeting by many, for as I came she rose, lifting herflower-like face towards my own, and next moment was in my arms.
When we had kissed our full, we began to talk, seated hand in handbeneath the oak.
"What have you been doing this day, beloved?" she asked.
"Much what I do every day, Heliodore. I have attended to my duties,which are threefold, as Chamberlain, as Master of the Palace, and asCaptain of the Guard. Also, for a little while, I saw the Augusta, towhom I had to report various matters. The interview was brief, since arumour had reached her that the Armenian regiments refuse to take theoath of fidelity to her alone, as she has commanded should be done, anddemand that the name of the Emperor, her son, should be coupled withhers, as before. This report disturbed her much, so that she had littletime for other business."
"Did you speak of my father's matter, Olaf?"
"Aye, shortly. She listened, and asked whether I were sure that I hadgot the truth from him. She added that I had best test it by what Icould win from you by any arts that a man may use. For, Heliodore,because of something that my god-mother, Martina, said to her, it isfixed in her mind that you are black-skinned and very ugly. Therefore,the Augusta, who does not like any man about her to care for otherwomen, thinks I may make love to you with safety. So I prayed for leavefrom my duties on the guard this evening that I might sup with yourfather in the guest-house, and see what I could learn from one or bothof you."
"Love makes you clever, Olaf. But hearken. I do not believe that theEmpress thinks me black and ugly any longer. As it chanced while Iwalked in the inner garden this afternoon, where you said I might gowhen I wished to be quite alone, dreaming of our love and you, I lookedup and saw an imperial woman of middle age, who was gorgeous asa peacock, watching me from a little distance. I went on my way,pretending to see no one, and heard the lady say:
"'Has all this trouble driven me mad, Martina, or did I behold a womanbeautiful as one of the nymphs of my people's fables wandering yonderamong those bushes?'
"I repeat her very words, Olaf, not because they are true--for,remember, she saw me at a distance and against a background of rocks andautumn flowers--but because they were her words, which I think you oughtto hear, with those that followed them."
"Irene has said many false things in her life," I said, smiling, "but byall the Saints these were not among them."
Then we embraced again, and after that was finished Heliodore, her headresting on my shoulder, continued her story:
"'What was she like, Mistress?' asked the lady Martina, for by thistime I had passed behind some little trees. 'I have seen no one who isbeautiful in this garden except yourself.'
"'She was clad in a clinging white robe, Martina, that left her armsand bosom bare'--being alone, Olaf, I wore my Egyptian dress beneath mycloak, which I had laid down because of the heat of the sun. 'She wasnot so very tall, yet rounded and most graceful. Her eyes seemed largeand dark, Martina, like her hair; her face was tinted like a rich-huedrose. Oh! were I a man she seemed such a one as I should love, who, likeall my people, have ever worshipped beauty. Yet, what did I say, thatshe put me in mind of a nymph of Greece. Nay, that was not so. It was ofa goddess of Old Egypt that she put me in mind, for on her face was thedreaming smile which I have seen on that of a statue of mother Isis whomthe Egyptians worshipped. Moreover, she wore just such a headdress as Ihave noted upon those statues.'
"Now the lady Martina answered: 'Surely, you must have dreamed,Mistress. The only Egyptian woman in the palace is the daughter of theold Coptic noble, Magas, who is in Olaf's charge, and though I am toldthat she is not so ugly as I heard at first, Olaf has never said to methat she was like a goddess. What you saw was doubtless some image ofFortune conjured up by your mind. This I take to be the best of omens,who in these doubtful days grow superstitious.'
"'Would Olaf tell one woman that another was like a goddess, Martina,even though she to whom he spoke was his god-mother and a dozen yearsyounger than himself? Come,' she added, 'and let us see if we can findthis Egyptian.'
"Then," Heliodore went on, "not knowing what to do, I stood still thereagainst the rockwork and the flowers till presently, round the bushes,appeared the splendid lady and Martina."
Now when I, Olaf, heard all this, I groaned and said:
"Oh! Heliodore, it was the Augusta herself."
"Yes, it was the Augusta, as I learned presently. Well, they came, and Icurtsied to them.
"'Are you the daughter of Magas, the Egyptian?' asked the lady, eyeingme from head to foot.
"'Yes, Madam,' I answered. 'I am Heliodore, the daughter of Magas.I pray that I have done no wrong in walking in this garden, but theGeneral Olaf, the Master of the Palace, gave me leave to come here.'
"'And did the General Olaf, whom we know as Michael, give you thatnecklace which you wear, also, O Daughter of Magas? Nay, you must needsanswer me, for I am the Augusta.'
"Now I curtsied again, and said:
"'Not so, O Augusta; the necklace is from Old Egypt, and was found uponthe body of a royal lady in a tomb. I have worn it for many years.'
"'Indeed, and that which the General Michael wears came also from atomb.'
"'Yes, he told me so, Augusta,' I said.
"'It would seem that the two must once have been one, Daughter ofMagas?'
"'It may be so, Augusta; I do not know.'
"Now the Empress looked ab
out her, and the lady Martina, droppingbehind, began to fan herself.
"'Are you married, girl?' she asked.
"'No,' I answered.
"'Are you affianced?'
"Now I hesitated a little, then answered 'No' again.
"'You seem to be somewhat doubtful on the point. Farewell for thiswhile. When you walk abroad in our garden, which is open to you, bepleased to array yourself in the dress of our country, and not in thatof a courtesan of Egypt.'"
"What did you answer to that saying?" I asked.
"That which was not wise, I fear, Olaf, for my temper stirred me.I answered: 'Madam, I thank you for your permission to walk in yourgarden. If ever I should do so again as your guest, be sure that I willnot wear garments which, before Byzantium was a village, were sacred tothe gods of my country and those of my ancestors the Queens of Egypt.'"
"And then?" I asked.
"The Empress answered: 'Well spoken! Such would have been my own wordshad I been in your place. Moreover, they are true, and the robe becomesyou well. Yet presume not too far, girl, seeing that Byzantium is nolonger a village, and Egypt has some fanatic Moslem for a Pharaoh, whothinks little of your ancient blood.'
"So I bowed and went, and as I walked away heard the Empress rating thelady Martina about I know not what, save that your name came into thematter, and my own. Why does this Empress talk so much about you, Olaf,seeing that she has many officers who are higher in her service, and whywas she so moved about this matter of the necklace of golden shells?"
"Heliodore," I answered, "I must tell now what I have hidden from you.The Augusta has been pleased--why, I cannot say, but chiefly, I suppose,because of late years it has been my fancy to keep myself apart fromwomen, which is rare in this land--to show me certain favour. I gather,even, that, whether she means it or means it not, she has thought of meas a husband."
"Oh!" interrupted Heliodore, starting away from me, "now I understandeverything. And, pray, have you thought as a wife of her, who has been awidow these ten years and has a son of twenty?"
"God above us alone knows what I have or have not thought, but it iscertain that at present I think of her only as one who has been mostkind to me, but who is more to be feared than my worst foe, if I haveany."
"Hush!" she said, raising her finger. "I fancied I heard someone stirbehind us."
"Fear nothing," I answered. "We are alone here, for I set guards of myown company around the place, with command to admit no one, and my orderruns against all save the Empress in person."
"Then we are safe, Olaf, since this damp would disarrange her hair,which, I noted, is curled with irons, not by Nature, like my own. Oh!Olaf, Olaf, how wonderful is the fate that has brought us together. Isay that when I saw you yonder in the cathedral for the first time sinceI was born, I knew you again, as you knew me. That is why, when youwhispered to me, 'Greeting after the ages,' I gave you back yourwelcome. I know nothing of the past. If we lived and loved before, thattale is lost to me. But there's your dream and there's the necklace.When I was a child, Olaf, it was taken from the embalmed body of someroyal woman, who, by tradition, was of my own race, yes, and by recordsof which my father can tell you, for he is among the last who can stillread the writing of the old Egyptians. Moreover, she was very like me,Olaf, for I remember her well as she lay in her coffin, preserved byarts which the Egyptians had. She was young, not much older than I amto-day, and her story tells that she died in giving birth to a son, whogrew up a strong and vigorous man, and although he was but half royal,founded a new dynasty in Egypt and became my forefather. This necklacelay upon her breast, and beneath it a writing on papyrus, which saidthat when the half of it which was lost should be joined again to thathalf, then those who had worn them would meet once more as mortals.Now the two halves of the necklace have met, and _we_ have met as Goddecreed, and it is one and we are one for ever and for ever, let everyEmpress of the earth do what they will to part us."
"Aye," I answered, embracing her again, "we are one for ever and forever, though perchance for a while we may be separated from time totime."