So the eunuchs set on the tables huge bowls of chased silver, and into these emptied many wine-jars. A sweet odour was wafted by the night breeze from the perfumed paste dissolving in the liquor. Soon the cups began to go about, and the Babylonian nobles roared their pledges,—to Belshazzar; to his betrothed; to Cyrus, their new ally; above all, to Bel-Marduk, guardian of Babylon, “god of gods, and lord of lords, through whose might their city had waxed great for a thousand years.” Belshazzar drank deeply; Darius only touched his goblet; Atossa did not touch it at all. “Ha, son of Hystaspes!” cried the king, his spirits rising with the wine that was flushing his temples. “You Persians have a custom to take counsel when drunken. Strong wine is a gift from your god, yet they wait to fill your second goblet.” Darius drained his cup, and handed it to the eunuch behind him. “True, your Majesty; but the spirit of the wine is not to be invoked lightly. On what take counsel? War? We sealed the treaty of peace to-day.” “Yet wine is a gift from Nabu, lord of the wise. Woe to the despiser! Come, evening wanes; they call the third hour of the night from Bel’s _ziggurat_. One thing is left.” Belshazzar rose from his couch. There was a great crash of music. The drinkers were silent instantly. The king stepped beside Atossa. “Look, lords of the Chaldees!” rang his voice. “This hour I proclaim Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, my affianced wife. One year from this hour shall be my bridal feast. Behold the sovereign lady of the land of Akkad!” He lifted the blue and white mitre from his head and placed it on the Persian’s golden hair. A great shout reëchoed, making the dying torches shimmer. “The queen! The queen! Hail, all hail, Atossa!” Darius rose also. No Babylonian knew what the words cost him. He raised his goblet:— “To Belshazzar, son of Cyrus. May Ahura grant him and his house prosperity for ten thousand years!” Another shout. Avil-Marduk, leading the rest, leaped to his feet, crying:— “To the favour of Sin, of Samas, of Marduk upon the house of Cyrus, and upon the noble Prince Darius!” The pledge was drunk amid furious cheering and the clatter of wine-cups; and the king shouted, last of all:— “To the peace betwixt Persia and Babylon, may it be firm forever!” More applause. Mermaza was bowing before Atossa:— “Dread lady, the feast is at an end. All the women will return now to the palace; but, after our custom, the king’s nobles will sit over their wine as long as they desire.” Darius had not spoken to Atossa during the entire evening. But he knew that the end had come, and could not see her go without one word. “My lord,” said he to Belshazzar, “I must say farewell to the Queen of the Chaldees. Henceforth she is Babylonian, not Persian. Into your hands I commit her. Yet, with your permission, I will speak with her—for the last time, before she enters your harem.” “Say what you will,” came the careless answer.