nearly midnight
The messenger , the overseer of Archibius 's galley slaves , was an experienced man . He undertook to have the `` Epicurus '' -- a swift vessel , which Cleopatra had given to her friend -- ready for a voyage to the open sea within two hours . The carriage should be sent for his master , that no time might be lost . When Archibius had returned to the ladies and asked whether it would be an abuse of their hospitality , if -- it was now nearly midnight -- he should still delay his departure for a time , they expressed sincere pleasure , and begged him to continue his narrative . `` I must hasten , '' he hurriedly began , after eating the lunch which Berenike had ordered while he was talking with the messenger , `` but the events of the next few years are hardly worth mentioning . Besides , my time was wholly occupied by my studies in the museum . `` As for Cleopatra and Arsinoë , they stood like queens at the head of all the magnificence of the court .