They learned without much difficulty who Nathan was, and the mysterious message consoled them. Artemisia spoke of it with a childlike faith that touched Thais' heart.
"When they return, they will rejoin the army of Alexander," she said. "If we could only escape to the Macedonians."
"We shall manage it in some way," Thais replied. "Leave it to me."
Phradates, whose broken wrist prevented him from taking part in the fighting, came often to visit them. He had never forgotten his glimpse of the face of Thais as it appeared in the great slave market before the ruined city of Thebes. His defeat that day was rendered more bitter in the recollection by the thought that she had been a witness of it. The face had haunted him until it had become a part of his life. After her return to Athens he had dogged her footsteps until he was called away to join the army of the satraps.
When he saw her again before Memnon's tribunal, the fascination of her beauty took complete possession of him. His anger against Chares was forgotten, and he was even glad when his rival was sent to Babylon instead of being condemned to death. He believed that the Theban would never come back, and the execution of the prisoners in Halicarnassus might have proved an insurmountable barrier between him and Thais.
Phradates knew that he had the young woman in his power, but he could not bring himself to make use of this advantage. He would not force a triumph; he must have a complete surrender. Day by day he hoped to obtain it. He found a half promise in her words, a suggestion of tenderness in her manner, and at times an implied appeal to his generosity that made his hope almost a certainty. When he grew impatient, the fear of losing her entirely restrained him. Thus he fell more and more completely under her domination, like a man who sips a narcotic, yielding by little and little to its power, until his will to resist is gone, and he gives himself wholly to its subtle intoxication, unwittingly a captive.
After one of her interviews with him, Thais often threw herself down, disgusted with the part that she was forced to play. She grew angry at Artemisia's failure to understand the necessity of what she was doing. When the smile faded from her lips as the door closed upon the Phœnician, she found Artemisia's eyes fixed upon her in sorrowful reproach.
"Why do you look at me like that?" she exclaimed petulantly. "Speak out, if you must!"
Artemisia bent her head and remained silent.
"Do you think I love him?" Thais demanded scornfully, coming close to her. "Do you believe that I am false to Chares? Tell me, if you do."