Lives of Alcyone

The religions ceremonies of the period impressed her deeply, and
seemed absolutely real to her while they lasted. The ornate ritual of
Egypt, the splendid processions down the Nile, the hymns and
dances in honour of the gods and goddesses, the magic that was
worked by the priests, and the occasional materialisations of the
deities—all these things had a profound effect upon her feelings,
and played a large part in her life.
She had eleven children, to whom she was deeply devoted;
they were all handsome, and made a beautiful picture when they
were gathered round her. She lived chiefly for them, and she
regarded social functions as tiresome because they took her away
from children, although she played her part as a grand lady when
necessary, and was just and generous to those dependent on her.
As she was beautiful, several lovers made advances of various
kinds to her, but she invariably rejected them, and remained faithful
to her husband.
One day an old man, Thetis, turned up—a travelling merchant,
who had known something of her mother’ s early history, which had
not been free from blame. Ursa had been an impulsive and
headstrong girl; she had refused to accept a husband whom her
father had designated for her, and had run off instead with another
man. Her chosen bridegroom, unfortunately, turned out to be a
worthless fellow who was already married, and he eventually
abandoned her. Now this villain Thetis, discovering from gossip
Alcyone’ s position, threatened her with the exposure of all this
history. Alcyone, being proud with regard to this, and not knowing
how her husband would take an exposure (he being a conventional
type of man) in a weak moment agreed to pay money to this
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