“What! Nero, who is soon to assume the manly habit?”
“Ay, my Psyche. Wouldst thou like to have a set like that?”
“Ornament does not make people happy, my Gyges,” said Psyche, as they left the jeweller’s shop. “I am happier dressed in plain clothes, with no ornament, than the women who recline amidst soft cushions, and who are so loaded with jewels that they have to be assisted when they walk. But look yonder! What a quantity of silk that matron has bought! Doubtless a daughter is to be wed.”
Gyges greatly enjoyed Psyche’s light chatter. He allowed her to continue unchecked in her girlish enthusiasm. Every store they passed brought forth exclamations of pleasure from Psyche. She was so busily engaged looking at some sandals that she did not observe the disappearance of Gyges. He quickly returned to the jewelry shop, made a purchase, and was again at Psyche’s side almost as soon as she missed him.
“Where hast thou been?” she asked.
“I wished to look once more at a jewel,” he replied.
“And therefore, my Gyges, I have been speaking to myself.”
“What didst thou say?”
“I was admiring those sandals of colored leather.”
“Dost thou like them too, O Psyche?” asked Gyges, laughing. “Surely the Via Sacra is thy celestial path. Thou standest more patient and more wrapped in contemplation than in a temple to a god. But come, let us to the art dealer. Let us admire the prettiest thing on earth,—the human form.”