As he was reading a letter from his mother, which contained secret slanders against Antipater, Hephaestion, as usual, was reading it with him. Alexander did not prevent Hephaestion from reading it, but, when he had finished the reading, he took off his ring, and placed the seal on Hephaestion's lips. 1 [p. 61]
1 Cf. Moralia, 332 F and 240 A, and Plutarch's Life of Alexander, chap. xxix. (688 A).