She led AEneas
among the walls and towers, made feasts for him, and begged again and
again to hear the story of his wandering. At other times she fondled
Ascanius, leaving her youths undrilled, and the city works abandoned.
Perceiving that Aeneas, well content, seemed to forget that his goal was
Hesperia, Mercury was dispatched by Jupiter to warn him to depart from
Carthage.
"Why stoppest thou here?" questioned the herald of the gods. "If thou
carest not for thyself, think of Ascanius, thine heir. His must be the
Italian realms, the Roman world."
The horror-stricken Aeneas stood senseless with fear. He longed to escape,
but how leave the unhappy Dido? Quickly calling his comrades, he commanded
them to fit out the fleet in silence, hoping to find a time when he could
break the news to Dido gently.
But who can deceive a lover? Rumor bore the report to Dido, who, mad with
grief, reproached Aeneas. "Perfidious one! didst thou think to escape from
me? Does not our love restrain thee, and the thought that I shall surely
die when thou art gone? I have sacrificed all to thee; now leave me not
lonely in my empty palace."
Aeneas remained untouched. He would ever retain the kindest memories of his
stay in Carthage. He had never held out the hope of wedlock to her. A
higher power called him, and, bidden by Jove, he must depart, for
Ascanius's sake, to Italy.
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