I have land enough belonging to myself alone, at Arsinoe; I know my own business and am tired of letting a woman meddle and mar it.

Good-bye for the present, youngster.

Tell your mother I am coming; I shall be with her in just an hour." "Demetrius!" cried the lad trying once more to detain his brother; but Demetrius freed himself with a powerful wrench and hurried across the court-yard--gay with flowers and with a fountain in the middle--into which the apartments of the family opened, his own among the number.
Marcus looked after him sadly; they differed too widely in thought and feeling ever to understand each other completely, and when they stood side by side no one would have imagined that they were the sons of one father, for even in appearance they were strongly dissimilar.

Marcus was slight and delicate, Demetrius, on the contrary, broad-shouldered and large-boned.
After this parting from his half-brother Marcus betook himself to the women's rooms where Mary, after superintending the spinning and other work of the slave-girls, in the rooms at the back, was wont to sit during the evening.

He found his mother in eager conversation with a Christian priest of advanced age, an imposing personage of gentle and dignified aspect.