The palanquin now having been set down, its bearers, its accompanying free men, and the two men who had accompanied the fellow from the theater, withdrew. This left the fellow in a position to conduct some form of tA?te-A — tA?te with the palanquin's occupant, of the privacy of which she would presumably wish to be assured. I wondered if this fellow commonly ran such a gauntlet on his way back from the theater to the house of his master, Appanius of Ar. When the palanquin stopped, Lavinia did, too, naturally, and, of course, some yards behind her, as, too, did I. While the fellow was engaged in discourse with the palanquin's occupant one of the free men, the fellow who had gone on ahead to call upon the fellow and his companions to wait, took notice of Lavinia and began to approach her. She must have seen him coming, for she reacted in fear, and turned about. She cast a wild glance toward me, but I pretended not to notice. She began to come back, back down Aulos, in my direction, but he called out, "Hold, female slave!" I was afraid for a moment that she might panic and bolt in which case he would presumably have her in custody in a moment and she would have been beaten. If he did not catch her I would have to beat her tonight, for having disobeyed a command of that sort, from a free person. Such are not to be disobeyed. But, to my satisfaction, accosted, although she had apparently momentarily gripped with fear, she had the good sense to turn about and kneel. Also, as he was a man, she had her knees in proper position. One of the advantages of that position, aside from its general suitability and its effect on the female, is that it commonly has placatory value. The fellow had, I assumed, noted her lingering about, too, in the vicinity of the theater, and had probably noted that she was following them, or, more likely, he whom they were following. Perhaps, while he was waiting, in order to while away the time, it was his intent to draw her aside, into a doorway, and thrust her back against the door or wall, for a bit of brief sport. I did not think I would object to this, if no danger came to the note. Too this might fit in with her guise as a state slave, for such are often not averse to such attentions, and have something of a reputation of provoking them. As I have earlier indicated the state is generally heedless of the sexual needs of its state slaves. At any rate, it seldom seems inclined to make any adequate provision for the satisfaction of these very real, and very profound, needs. To be sure, what does it matter, as the women are only slaves? On the other hand, it might be noted that state slaves being sold into the private sector often bring good prices. They seem eager to become private slaves, with a given master, whom they may then try to serve with such perfection and devotion that they may hope to exert some influence, however small, on the quality of their lives, for example, with respect to the nature of the contentments they may receive, those which their master may deign to bestow upon them. On the other hand, his mien hostile, so I moved somewhat closer. He stood now before Lavinia, angrily, who, wide-eyed, kneeling, quaked before him. She spread her knees even more. I say now that it was apparently his intention to protect his employer's interests, as he saw them, that he wished to warn her away. That would not do. He drew back his hand to cuff the slave. As his hand came forward I intercepted it, and held it, by the wrist, in midair. "Ai! he cried out, in surprise, in anger, in pain. When he ceased to struggle I released his hand. He pulled his wrist away, angrily, rubbing it.
"What is the meaning of your interference? he snarled.
"What is the meaning of yours?" I inquired, eagerly.
He back away a step. "Mine?" he asked.
"Interfering with a state slave," I said.
"She is following us!" he said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well," said he, "not us, but another."
"Who?" I asked.
"He," he said, indicating the direction of the palanquin.
"What business is it of yours?" I asked.
"My employer would not approve of her pursuit," he said.
"And is your employer a competitive slave girl?" I asked.
"No!" he said. "She is the Ladya€”a€”"
"Yes?" I said.
"It does not matter," he said, irritatedly.
"Perhaps her master has not yet given her a name?" I said.
"You can see she carried a note!" said the fellow, gesturing to Lavinia. "Give me the note," I said to Lavinia.
"It is private!" she said.
I put out my hand, and she put the note in my hand.
"It is nothing," I said, glancing at the note, and handing it back to Lavinia. "Let me see!" he said.
"You dispute my word?" I said, eagerly.
"No!" he said.
"Draw!" I said. My hand went to my tunic.
"I am unarmed!" he said. "It is the law! We of Ar may not carry weapons." "Let us then adjudicate our differences with out bare hands," I said.
"You are drunk!" he said, stepping back.
If true, that will give you an advantage," I said.
"It is unseemly for free men to squabble before a female slave," he said. "I shall send her away then," I said.
"No, no," he said, anxiously. "She is doing no harm."
"You would keep her here, away from her duties?" I asked.
"No," he said. "No!"
"Glory to Talena, Ubar of Ar," I said.
"Yes, glory to Talena, certainly!" he said.
"Glory to Seremides, first minister to the Ubara, high captain, commander of the Taurentians, to Myron, polemarkos of Temos, to Luris of Jad, Ubar of Cos!" I said.
"Yes, yes," he said, "glory to them, glory to them all!"
"Glory to a fat tharlarion!" I said.
"If you wish," he said, "yes, of course!"
"You are very agreeable," I said.
"I try to be congenial," he said.
"I think that I shall make the acquaintance of your lady," I said.
"Do not!" he said.
"To complain of your interference with the duties of a state slave," I said. "She is in converse!" he said.
"No matter!" I said.
"Do not interrupt her!" he said.
"Perhaps you wish to stop me? I said.
"No!" he said. He then turned and hurried away, toward the palanquin.
"It is my recommendation," I said to Lavinia, "that you route yourself about and rendezvous with our quarry on Tarn Court, underneath the bowers. As I understand it that is his accustomed path. Also, in this way it will seem as though I sent you away, hurrying you back to your proper business."
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Tuck the note in your tunic," I said. "Deliver it when the opportune moment arises."
"Yes, Master," she said. She kissed the note, and then thrust it into her tunic. "It is a well-written note," I said.
"Thank you, Master," she said. She herself, as it had turned out, had written the note, it compliant, of course, with my directives and objectives. Marcus and I had struggled with the note for a time and then, for all practical purposes, had given it up. Lavinia had then composed it. It was sensitive, lyrical, tender, poignant and touching, the desperate, pleading letter of a highly intelligent, profoundly feminine, extremely vulnerable, extremely needful woman hopelessly in love, one eager to abandon herself and to surrender all to the lover. Both Marcus and myself were astonished that Lavinia did such an excellent job with it. It was almost as though she were writing the letter in her own behalf, and not as part of a plot. Only Phoebe had not seemed surprised, but had merely smiled. She did make a couple of suggestions, about the formation of certain letters, but, as it turned out, such things were common in the cursive script of Ar, a point in which Marcus concurred with Lavinia. The script of Ar's Station is, apparently, for the most practical purposes at any rate, the same as that of Ar. There are some differences in speech, that is, in accent, but even they tend to be negligible. For example, whereas Marcus' speech would have attracted immediate attention in Tyros or Cos, or even in the western Vosk basin, it attracted little, if any, attention in Ar.