Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stefan Cramme and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. THE CITY OF DELIGHT A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Elizabeth Miller Author of _The Yoke_ and _Saul of Tarsus_ With Illustrations by F.X. Leyendecker Indianapolis The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers 1908 March [Illustration] To My Elder Brother Otto Miller CONTENTS Chapter Page I A Prince's Bride 1 II On the Road to Jerusalem 31 III The Shepherd of Pella 56 IV The Travelers 85 V By the Wayside 108 VI Dawn in the Hills 124 VII Imperial Cæsar 148 VIII Greek and Jew 169 IX The Young Titus 189 X The Story of a Divine Tragedy 212 XI The House of Offense 233 XII The Prince Returns 253 XIII A New Pretender 274 XIV The Pride of Amaryllis 284 XV The Image of Jealousy 300 XVI The Spread Net 322 XVII The Tangled Web 337 XVIII In the Sunless Crypt 358 XIX The False Prophet 374 XX As the Foam upon Water 390 XXI The Faithful Servant 408 XXII Vanished Hopes 417 XXIII The Fulfilment 427 XXIV The Road to Pella 441 THE CITY OF DELIGHT Chapter I A PRINCE'S BRIDE The chief merchant of Ascalon stood in the guest-chamber of his house. Although it was a late winter day the old man was clad in the free white garments of a midsummer afternoon, for to the sorrow of Philistia the cold season of the year sixty-nine had been warm, wet and miasmic. An old woman entering presently glanced at the closed windows of the apartment when she noted the flushed face of the merchant but she made no movement to have them opened. More than the warmth of the day was engaging the attention of the grave old man, and the woman, by dress and manner of equal rank with him, stood aside until he could give her a moment. His porter bowed at his side. "The servants of Philip of Tyre are without," he said. "Shall they enter?" "They have come for the furnishings," Costobarus answered. "Take thou all the household but Momus and Hiram, and dismantle the rooms for them. Begin in the library; then the sleeping-rooms; this chamber next; the kitchen last of all. Send Hiram to the stables to except three good camels from the herd for our use. Let Momus look to the baggage. Where is Keturah?" A woman servant hastening after a line of men bearing a great divan, picking up the draperies and pillows that had dropped, stopped and salaamed to her master. "Is our apparel ready?" he asked. "Prepared, master," was the response.