Page 97 - The Prophet-statesman a Drama of Daniel

Of all those who heard the king’s speech, there was one who rejoiced in it more
than any other. Not in the throng in front of the palace was this auditor, but seated by

an open window of the palace itself, Rhea the queen listened to the words of her royal
lord with the queen listened to the words of her royal lord with a heart bubbling up
with thanksgiving. It was worth it, the seven years of separation and widowhood, to
see that her husband had been brought to full faith and yieldedness to Jahveh.

This was her first sight of him since he had returned from his strange exile, and
but for some streaks of grey around his temples, his appearance had changed little.

When the speech was concluded, Rhea hastened back to her apartment to await the
coming of her husband. She knew that he would come soon, and she would have the
lovely little Princess Hanniel, now nearly eight, ready to meet him.

The king withdrew into the palace immediately after his speech, and received his
friends for a period of brief consultation. He was told that Belgar had been found dead
on the floor of his apartment in the other wing of the palace and that this fact had
already been noised abroad. They knew that his death would mark the complete

collapse of his following, and remove the possibility of organized counter-action
against the king’s return to power.

Hastening to his own apartment, he was met by the fond embrace of the queen,

who clung to him in a passionate devotion, more intense than any he had ever known
from her before. Her husband had returned to her not only renewed in mind, but in
spirit as well.

The queen was still strikingly beautiful, though the fresh and vibrant beauty of
youth had merged into the mellow loveliness of middle age. Her inward beauty of
spirit, refined in the crucible of suffering, lent a sweetness to her expression that
enhanced the attractiveness of her face and features as did the dashed of grey that

could be discerned among her raven locks.

Never had she appeared more lovely or desirable to the king as he and she both

realized that there was now and would be henceforth a fusion of spirit in their
relationship that had not previously existed.

“Oh, my lord,” she breathed in his ear, as he held her tight in his embrace. “It is
worth it all—the sorrow, the loneliness, the suffering—to know that you have returned

in faith and yieldedness to our God—Jahveh―the God who hath made us and the God
who hath saved us. He is no longer to you just the God of Shadrach, Meshach and