"I will tolerate another man under thy roof if thou wilt but make this pretty bird of passage a permanency," he said to the Greek, after a silent study of Laodice's beauty.
"Let her be a hostage dependent on thy good behavior.

Lapse, and I shall send her back to Olympus where they keep such nymphs." Philadelphus smiled at Laodice, but the shock of their recent talk had shaken her too much to enter into this idle chaff on the lips of those upon whom the fortunes of Israel depended at that very hour.
John looked at her for a long time.
"Amaryllis veils thee in the enchantment of mystery.

I think she is tired of me and would have me interested in another woman.

She does all things well.

Who art thou, in truth ?" The Greek lifted her head and gazed with overt anxiety at the girl; Philadelphus turned toward her uneasily.