As the dove that goeth forth in the morning and returneth in the evening to his mate, so I will return soon to thee." Atossa knew well enough that the letter had been intended for Nehushta.
The woman had whispered that Zoroaster had given it to her, and Zoroaster would never have written those words to herself; or, writing anything, would not have written in the Hebrew language.
But as the queen read, her heart rose up in wrath against the Persian prince and against the woman he loved.

When she had talked with him that morning, she had felt her old yearning affection rising again in her breast.

She had wondered at herself, being accustomed to think that she was beyond all feeling for man, and the impression she had received from her half-hour's talk with him was so strong, that she had foolishly delayed sending her letter to Phraortes, in order to see the woman Zoroaster admired, and had, in her absence of mind, forgotten the scroll upon the seat in the corridor, and had brought herself into such desperate danger through the discovery of the missive, that she hardly yet felt safe.

The king had dismissed her peremptorily from his presence while he waited for Nehushta, and she had not seen him during the rest of the day.

As for Zoroaster, she had soon heard from her women that he had taken the road towards Nineveh before noon, alone and almost unarmed, mounted upon one of the fleetest horses in Persia.