“After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was appeased,
he remembered Vashti.”—Book of Esther ii. 1.
I.
Is this all the love that he bore me, my husband, to publish my face
To the nobles of Media and Persia, whose hearts are besotted and base?
Did he think me a slave, me, Vashti, the Beautiful, me,
Queen of Queens,
To summon me thus for a show to the midst of his bacchanal scenes?