Now when the royal decrees were made known, and virgins were gathered to Shushan through Hega the royal eunuch and keeper of the women, and when Mordecai heard that virgins were forcibly demanded, he took Esther and withdrew her from the royal messengers, that they should not carry her away. He hid her in a summer-house, that they should not see her. The daughters of the heathen used to dance and show their beauty through the windows when the royal messengers passed by, therefore the messengers brought many virgins from the provinces.
And the messengers knew Esther, and when they saw that she was not among these virgins, they said one to another: "In vain have we exerted ourselves to bring virgins from the provinces, when we have in our province a virgin who surpasses in beauty all those whom we have brought." And when search was made for Esther and she was not found, they made it known to the king. When the king heard it, he issued an order that every virgin who shall conceal herself from the royal messengers, shall be punished with death.
Mordecai, hearing this order, was afraid, and he conducted his uncle's daughter to the market, and so Esther was brought by Hega, the keeper of the women, unto the king.