"Thou art telling untruth again. And this mantle, tell me if this is not my son's mantle? My slave found it on that same tree, in the branches."
The queen sprang up and brought from a case a brown, hooded mantle. Tutmosis remembered that the pharaoh had returned after midnight without his mantle and even explained to him that he had lost it somewhere in the garden. He hesitated, meditated, but at last answered with decision,
"No, queen, that was not the pharaoh. That was Lykon, and this is a crime of the priests which I must report to his holiness straightway."
"But if that were Ramses?" inquired the lady again, though in her eyes a spark of hope was now evident.
Tutmosis was troubled. His conclusion that it was Lykon was wise and might be true, but indications were not lacking that the queen had seen Ramses. It was certain that he had returned to his chamber after midnight; he wore a tunic with white and blue stripes, he had lost his mantle. It was true that his brother was demented, and, moreover, could a mother's heart deceive her?
And doubts rose in the soul of Tutmosis, intricate and involved as a nest of poisonous reptiles. Luckily in proportion as his doubts increased hope entered the heart of Niort's.
"It is well that Thou hast reminded me of that Lykon," said she. "I remember. Through him Mefres accused Ramses of child murder, and today he may use the wretch to defame his sovereign. In this case not a word to any one of what I have told thee. If Ramses if in truth he is subject to such a misfortune, it may be temporary. We must not humiliate him by mentioning such reports, we must not inform him. If this is a plot of the priests we must also be cautious. Though people who use such deceit cannot be powerful."
"I will investigate this," interrupted Tutmosis, "but if I convince myself."
"Do not inform Ramses I implore thee by the shade of thy father!" exclaimed the queen, clasping her hands. "The pharaoh would not forgive them, he would deliver them to judgment, and then one of two misfortunes would happen. Either the supreme priests of the state would be condemned to death, or the court would free them. And then what? But pursue Lykon and slay him without mercy, like a wild beast like a reptile."
Tutmosis took farewell of the queen. She was pacified, though his fears had grown greater.