What chance had Egypt, in the hands of a woman, before the Roman wolves? Osiris blast them with their big hands and urbane, smiling faces! . . . A daughter—a plaything for the sons of other men! Should he beget only playthings for the sons of other men? . . .
His eye caught a glimpse of mobile flesh.
True, women were not without power; he knew that. Their way was different from that of a man, but, forewarned, they were not without resource. Hatshepsu had ruled; no one had known her for a woman . . . The glory of the Lagidae was a heavy trust. He himself had bribed the Romans with prodigious sums. A son might bribe again, or fight. A daughter—true, a daughter might obtain again all the riches, and more. That was not beyond thought. The Romans, his enemies,
