"He must never know it!" she cried, passionately.
"It will be known to him," I answered, sorrowfully "If you refuse Prince Mœris's demand, he will write another such missive as this, and dispatch it to Remeses. The prince, if I may, from love, still call him so, will, as you have said, examine the matter. Mœris will refer him to the ladies Nilia and Thebia. He will then come to you—"
"To me?" she cried, with a shudder.
"To you, O queen, and ask of you if Prince Mœris and these women relate the truth."
"He would not believe—he would not believe it—so far as to come to me. He would not insult me by making such a demand of me!"
"He may be forced to it. Circumstances may overcome him, so that he will feel that he must appeal to you. He would refuse to ascend the throne of Egypt, so high is his integrity, if there were a doubt as to his legitimate right to it."
"O prince, counsel me! What shall I do?" she cried, wringing her hands, and looking towards me in the most appealing and helpless manner.
"I know not how to counsel your majesty," I replied, greatly distressed, my heart bleeding both for her and Remeses, who, I felt, sooner or later, must come to the truth of the dreadful rumor; and also from my knowledge of the perfect uprightness and justice of his character, as well as his firmness, that he would investigate it until he either disproved or verified it.
At length, after a long and painful interval of embarrassment, the queen, of her own will, said to me—
"Sesostris, I meant no wrong. I loved the weeping babe, in its desolate state, and no sooner did I take it up than it smiled, and won my heart. You know the fine appearance of Remeses as a man; judge you therefore how lovely he was when an infant three months old. I was childless. My husband had been a few weeks dead, and this infant seemed to be sent to me in part to fill up the place made void in my affections. That it was a Hebrew child did not move me. I had always opposed the cruel edict of the king, my father; and felt that, to save this child of the oppressed Hebrews, would in some degree, atone for the death of so many who were destroyed in obedience to his orders. Thus I was influenced by a threefold motive—to save the infant, to adopt a son, to atone for evil."