"'Not unusual,' she replied. 'I have consulted the book of the reigns of the Pharaohs, in the hall of Books, in the temple of Thoth. Within two thousand years, not less than seven kings and three queens have resigned the sceptre of Egypt to children or adopted heirs. The Queen Nitocris resigned to her adopted son, Myrtæus; Chomæphtha, after reigning eleven years, weary with the weight of the crown, resigned it to her nephew, Sœconiosochus. Did not Phruron-Nilus, the great monarch, decide to abdicate in favor of Amuthantæus, his son, when sudden death only prevented his retirement? The crowns of Egypt are mine, my son, by the laws of the gods, and of the ancestral kings from whom I have inherited them. I will not wait for the god of death to remove them from my head; but with my own hands I would put them upon thy brow! It must be done soon,—now! or neither thou nor I will hold rule long in Egypt!'
"I begged my mother to explain her mysterious words.
"'Come, sit by me. Be calm, Remeses! Listen with your usual meekness and reverence to me when I speak.' I obeyed her, and she thus began:
"'Thou knowest thy cousin Mœris;—his lofty ambition; his impatience; his spirit of pride; his lust for dominion, which his viceroyship in the Thebaïd has only given him an unlimited thirst for;—his jealousy and hatred of you, Remeses! None of these things are concealed from you, my son.' My mother paused as if for my assent, which I signified by a respectful bow. She continued:
"'This Prince Mœris, for whom I have done all in my power—whom I have made second only to me in the Thebaïd, I have reason to know seeks your ruin and my throne!'
"'What proof hast thou of this?' I cried, deeply moved.
"'Remeses,' said my mother, in ringing tones, 'I must unfold to thee all! I know how slow thou art to suspect or believe evil of any one; and that you fancy Mœris an honorable prince, overlooking his jealousy of you. You have confidence in my judgment and truth?'
"'I have, the most undoubted and deferential,' I answered the queen.
"'Then, my son, hear me!' she said, with a face as pale as the fine linen of her vesture. 'Prince Mœris possesses a secret (ask me not what it is) which gives him a dangerous power over me. He obtained possession of it years ago, how I know not; but it has placed in his hands a power that I tremble beneath. Nay, ask not! My heart itself would as soon open to thine eyes, under the shield of my bosom, as reveal its secret! It will die with me! Yet Mœris, my nephew—a man of talents and ambition, in morals most unprincipled, and in disposition cruel and unjust—holds my happiness in his hand!'
"'My mother,' I cried, 'why then didst thou confer on him the principality of the Thebaïd and its enormous military power?'