First of all, she was strong of will, and rather ruled than obeyed her parents; and she not only obstinately refused an honourable marriage, but spoke bitterly of the small esteem and respect in which the Athenians held their lawful wives; and she upheld as a model Aspasia, her compatriot, the friend of Pericles, and in all but name his honoured wife. For, whilst the lawful wives of the noblest Athenians were cooped up like children in their own apartments, Aspasia enjoyed perfect freedom, and was entertained of the brightest wits and the wisest and bravest of Athens; and she was knit to Pericles with ties of most ardent affection, far stronger than any bonds fastened by a forced contract, and she was honoured and treated as were the consorts of noble Greeks in olden times, and not regarded merely as a nurse for her husband’s children. And Daphne had determined, in like manner, to enter into no forced marriage, but to form a fitting connection with some man whom she loved and honoured, if chance so willed it, in marriage, but if not, even as Aspasia with Pericles. And what may perhaps to some seem strange, whilst she had constantly asserted for herself the truest freedom, she had preserved also the strictest virtue. Many Athenian youths had loved her, and some men of good standing, but none had touched her fancy. Like Aspasia, she had been carefully trained in poetry, rhetoric, and music, and she could converse with much acuteness and in a pleasing manner. Now, when the plague had carried off her natural protectors and desolated the city, Daphne not only despaired in her heart of carrying out her idea in practice, but was afraid for her life, and at the least dreaded that her beauty would be marred or the sharpness of her mind blunted. And when she was thus cast down in spirit, a maiden of her acquaintance came running, and told her all the Egyptian had promised, saying that they were themselves of Grecian stock, and spoke the language of the old heroes. And Daphne, although she thought the report an idle tale or a snare, still, seeing that it offered some chance of safety, whilst in the city there seemed none, agreed to hear what the stranger had to say. She found the maidens in a group apart, weeping and terrified, and taking counsel together; but the Egyptians were talking to one another in an unknown tongue, and laughing, as it were, over a good jest. To Daphne, however, there seemed to be more bitterness than mirth in their laughter, and she swiftly determined not to go, and to dissuade the others also. But suddenly the leader turned his eyes full upon her, and she felt compelled, as if by some superior power, to scan his features closely, and to try to pierce his thoughts.