On this her brother seized her arm, and, wildly excited, forbade this step in the name of his father.
But at his vehement shout, “I will not allow it!” she struggled to free herself, and cried out to him:
“And you? Did not you, whose life is a thousand times more important than mine, of your own free-will go into captivity and to death in order to save our father?”
“It was for my sake that he had been robbed of his freedom,” interrupted Alexander; but she added, quickly:
“And if I had not thought only of myself, the command to release him and Philip would by this time have been at the harbor. I am going.”
Alexander then took his hand from her arm, and exclaimed, as if urged by some internal force, “Well, then, go!”
“And you,” continued Melissa, hastily, “go and seek the lady Euryale. She is expecting me. Tell her all, and beg her in my name to go to rest. Also tell her I remembered the sentence about the time, which was fulfilled. ... Mark the words. If I am running again into danger, tell her that I do it because a voice says to me that it is right. And it is right, believe me, Alexander!”
The artist drew his sister to him and kissed her; yet she hardly understood his anxious good wishes; for his voice was choked by emotion.
He had taken it for granted that he should accompany her as far as the emperor’s room, but she would not allow it. His reappearance would only lead to fresh quarrels.
He also gave in to this; but he insisted on returning here to wait for her.