ThusfellIrene，themightyEmpressoftheEasternEmpire！
NowduringalltheseyearsHeliodoreandIwereleftinpeaceatLesbos。Iwasnotdeposedfrommygovernorshipofthatisle，whichprosperedgreatlyundermyrule。EvenIrene’sestates，whichConstantinehadgivenme，werenottakenaway。AttheappointedtimesIremittedthetributedue，yes，andaddedtothesum，andreceivedbacktheofficialacknowledgmentsignedbytheEmpress，andwithittheofficialthanks。Butwiththesenevercameeitherletterormessage。YetitisevidentsheknewthatIwasmarried，fortoHeliodoredidcomeamessage，andwithitagift。ThegiftwasthatnecklaceandthoseotherornamentswhichIrenehadcausedtobemadeinanexactlikenessofthestringofgoldenshellsseparatedbyemeraldbeetles，onehalfofwhichIhadtakenfromthegraveoftheWandereratAarandtheotherhalfofwhichwaswornbyHeliodore。
Somuchofthegift。Themessagewasthatshewhoownedthenecklacemightwishtohavetherestoftheset。Toitwereaddedthewordsthatacertaingeneralhadbeenwrongwhenheprophesiedthatthewearingofthisnecklacebyanywomansaveonewouldbringillfortunetothewearer，sincefromthedayithungaboutIrene’sneckeventhatwhichseemedtobebadfortunehadturnedtogood。Thusshehadescaped“themostevilthingintheworld，namely，anotherhusband，“
andhadbecomethefirstwomanintheworld。
Thesewords，whichwerewrittenonapieceofsheepskin，sealedup，andaddressedtotheLadyHeliodore，butunsigned，Ithoughtofthemostevilomen，sinceboastfulnessalwaysseemstobehatefultothePowerthatdecreesourfates。So，indeed，theyprovedtobe。