“Nothing,” he said.
“Perhaps you hoped for a different visitor?” she said.
“‘Visitor’?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Perhaps,” he said.
“Do you not recognize me?” she asked.
“For what purpose have you come?” he asked.
“I am a free woman!” she said.
“I see,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Surely you recognize me?” she asked.
“I am sorry,” said Tuvo Ausonius. “I do not. Should I?”
“I am the free woman, Tribonius Auresius!” she announced.
“I do not think so,” said Tuvo Ausonius. “You are too pretty.”
“‘Pretty’?” she cried. “Shame, shame!”
“You are a same?” he asked.
“Certainly!” she said. “And you, too, are a same!”
“You are not dressed as a same,” he said.
“That is not important,” she said.
“Tribonius Auresius,” he said, “was aboard the Alaria. It never reached Miton.”
“Nonetheless, I am she!” she said.
“The Alaria,” he said, “I have heard it recently rumored, fell to a barbarian fleet. Distress calls supposedly made that clear. Debris was also supposedly indicative. If there were any pretty prisoners taken, they were doubtless made slaves.”
“Shame!” she cried. “You cannot even begin to think of a woman in such terms, even hypothetically, even in the wildest stretches of your imagination! You are a same! Such a horrifying, terrifying fate for a woman could not even occur to you!”
“I doubt that you are Tribonius Auresius,” he said.
“Why?” she asked.
“You are not she,” he said. “You are far more desirable, far more exciting and beautiful than she.”
“Watch your language!” she cried. “But you saw the pictorials!”
“They were of a rather plain, snobbish little slut,” he said, “but one who, perhaps, had some promise.”
“Wicked man!” she cried.
“You escaped the Alaria?” he asked.
“Yes!” she said.
“And kept your freedom?”
“Yes!” she said.
“And still retain it?”
“Of course,” she said.
“What is the name of the mother of Tribonius Auresius?” he asked.
He was told. It was “Cualella.”
He then asked a number of complex questions, pertaining to various matters, matters the answers to which would be likely to be known only to themselves.
“I am Tribonius Auresius!” said she, at the conclusion of this inquiry.
“Your identity is established beyond doubt,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“And what would be the purpose of attempting to deceive you with respect to such a matter?” she asked.
“I can conceive of no such purpose,” he said. “But I am not clear as to what you are doing here, here in this house, here in this room.”
“Surely you are overjoyed to see me,” she said, “your fiancée, your betrothed.”
“Doubtless,” he said.
“I was traveling in these mountains,” she said, “and sought, and was granted, hospitality, and subsequently, in pleasant converse, our relationship emerged. At that time I did not know you were here. Our host, in his graciousness, has permitted me to visit you.”
“That is surely exceedingly kind on his part,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Though not a same, he is a gentleman,” she said.
“Perhaps we might avail ourselves of this opportunity to renew our relationship.”
“As sames?” she said.
“What could be more appropriate?” he asked.
“True,” she said.
“I must admit,” he said, “I was somewhat put off by the somewhat calculating and mercenary nature of the arrangements connected with our prospective relationship.”
“One cannot be too careful,” she said, “when patricians are involved.”
“I was not overly pleased,” he said, “that you were only of the 105th degree of the Auresii.”
“Surely the 105th degree of the Auresii is comparable to, or superior to, that of the 103rd degree of the Ausonii,” she said.
“Scarcely,” he said.
She reddened, angrily.
“It is true,” he said.
“Perhaps,” she said.
“I gathered,” he said, “that you had certain anticipations of the nature of our relationship, and desired to impose certain conditions upon it.”
“Of course,” she said.
“Absolute superiority of the woman?” he asked.
“At the very least,” she said. “It must be remembered that, even though we are both sames, that we women must protect ourselves, as we are smaller and weaker than you.”
“A husband has no rights which he may enforce?” asked Tuvo Ausonius.
“Not unless we permit it,” she said.
“Everything is up to the woman,” he said.
“Of course,” she said.
“It is all on your own terms,” he said.
“Yes, of course,” she said.
“What of nature?” he asked.
“We have improved on nature,” she said.
“I wonder,” he said.
“As a same, you are not permitted to wonder about such things,” she said. “It is forbidden to wonder about them.”
“But what if they are absurd?” he asked.
“It is forbidden to ask such questions,” she said. “Remember that you are a same!”
“Perhaps you would now like me to kneel before you, and beg your hand in marriage,” he said.
“Certainly, if you wish,” she said.
“That would be entirely appropriate?” he asked.
“Certainly,” she said.
“I was not truly eager for the marriage,” he said.
“What?” she said.
“But I thought it might be construed as a portion of my duty to the empire,” he said.
“Your duty!” she cried.
“Yes,” he said.
“Well, I was not eager for it either!” she said.
“Why then did you agree to the matter?” he asked.
“These things were arranged by my mother and another,” she said.
“Why did you agree to them?” asked Tuvo Ausonius.
She regarded him, angrily.
“Why?”
“It was to my advantage!” she said.
“You are a mercenary little thing,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“I hate you!” she said. “Even on the Alaria I hated you.”
“It seems your feelings were somewhat ambivalent, ranging between disgust and greed,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“I despised you.”
“And do you think I would have held you in high esteem, one only of the Auresii?”
“Knave!” she said.
“What sort of relationship would we have had?” he asked.
“It would have been on my terms,” she said. “I assure you of that!”
“You do hate me, don’t you?” he said.
“Yes,” she said.
“Why?” he asked.
“You are a weakling!” she said.
“And doubtless you would punish me for that?”
“Yes,” she said, “I would have made you suffer! I was even considering ruining you!”
“Would you not then have ruined yourself, as well?”
“No!” she said. “I could have taken what I could from you, and then contracted other marriages.”
“You are materialistic, indeed,” he said.
She looked at him, in fury.
“Therefore, what has happened to you is surely not inappropriate.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, suddenly.
“Do you wish to discuss our possible marriage further?” he asked.
“If you wish,” she said, uncertainly.
“You are a free woman,” he said.
“Yes,” she said.
“And you would consider proposing yourself as a marital partner to a free man?”