of what do I talk? You'll befriend me, will you not?"
"Aye, Augusta, to the last drop of my blood, as is my duty. Do I not take your pay?"
"Then thus I seal our friendship and here's an earnest of the pay," Irene said slowly, and, bending forward, she kissed me on the lips.
At this moment the doors of the chamber were thrown open. Through them, preceded by heralds, that at once drew back again, entered the great minister Stauracius, a fat, oily-faced man with a cunning eye, who announced in a high, thin voice,
"The ambassadors of the Persians wait upon you, Augusta, as you appointed at this hour."
