CAESAR (_buoyantly_). Is it not, my only son? (_He claps his hands. The slaves hurry in to the table._) No more of this mawkish reveling: away with all this stuff: shut it out of my sight and be off with you. (_The slaves begin to remove the table; and the curtains are drawn, shutting in the colonnade._) You understand about the streets, Rufio? RUFIO. Ay, I think I do. I will get through them, at all events. _The bucina sounds busily in the courtyard beneath._ CAESAR. Come, then: we must talk to the troops and hearten them. You down to the beach: I to the courtyard. (_He makes for the staircase._) CLEOPATRA (_rising from her seat, where she has been quite neglected all this time, and stretching out her hands timidly to him_). Caesar. CAESAR (_turning_). Eh? CLEOPATRA. Have you forgotten me? CAESAR. (_indulgently_). I am busy now, my child, busy. When I return your affairs shall be settled. Farewell; and be good and patient. _He goes, preoccupied and quite indifferent. She stands with clenched fists, in speechless rage and humiliation._ RUFIO. That game is played and lost, Cleopatra. The woman always gets the worst of it. CLEOPATRA (_haughtily_). Go. Follow your master. RUFIO (_in her ear, with rough familiarity_). A word first. Tell your executioner that if Pothinus had been properly killed--_in the throat_--he would not have called out. Your man bungled his work. CLEOPATRA (_enigmatically_). How do you know it was a man? RUFIO (_startled, and puzzled_). It was not you: you were with us when it happened. (_She turns her back scornfully on him. He shakes his head, and draws the curtains to go out. It is now a magnificent moonlit night. The table has been removed. Ftatateeta is seen in the light of the moon and stars, again in prayer before the white altar-stone of Ra. Rufio starts; closes the curtains again softly; and says in a low voice to Cleopatra_) Was it she? With her own hand? CLEOPATRA (_threateningly_). Whoever it was, let my enemies beware of her. Look to it, Rufio, you who dare make the Queen of Egypt a fool before Caesar. RUFIO (_looking grimly at her_). I will look to it, Cleopatra. (_He nods in confirmation of the promise, and slips out through the curtains, loosening his sword in its sheath as he goes._) ROMAN SOLDIERS (_in the courtyard below_). Hail, Caesar! Hail, hail! _Cleopatra listens. The bucina sounds again, followed by several trumpets._ CLEOPATRA (_wringing her hands and calling_). Ftatateeta. Ftatateeta. It is dark; and I am alone. Come to me. (_Silence._) Ftatateeta. (_Louder._) Ftatateeta. (_Silence. In a panic she snatches the cord and pulls the curtains apart._) _Ftatateeta is lying dead on the altar of Ra, with her throat cut. Her blood deluges the white stone._ ACT V