Lives of Alcyone

strongly to her son Helios that he begged the holy man to accept
him as a pupil, and his mother to allow him to go.
A great struggle took place within her; for this would mean the
entire sacrifice of the one great dream of her life. And yet, on the
other hand, she knew well that this was a high honour, for the holy
man was willing to accept her son, saying that the boy would do
well and would go far, and that he had links with him from a previous
life. The sacrifice of all her affectionate ambitions was a great strain,
but after many days at last she agreed; and Helios went with the
holy man on his journey towards the hills. But having parted with
him she shut herself up to mourn, and would not be comforted.
After some days of this, the younger brother, Hector, at last
resolved to break in upon her solitude, telling her that though his
brother was gone it was to a higher and grander life, and that he
himself was still left and would endeavour to take his place. She had
never thought of him in that way, though always kind and loving
towards him; she had been so entirely engrossed in the elder
brother and the prophesy, that she had thought of Hector only as a
little boy.
Alastor maliciously rejoiced when she heard that the
handsome son had adopted the ascetic life. About this period she
determined that it was quite imperative that she should have a son,
so she contrived a plot by which she presented Scorpio, the
illegitimate son of Hesperia, one of the servants, as her own, bribing
the real mother to silence. This required an elaborate and
complicated plot, and although it was undeservedly successful, she
was never free thereafter from devouring anxiety and suspicion.
Now that she had thus provided a pretended heir for herself, she
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