"What is a shame?" I asked.
"The poor fellow will have almost no time with her," he said.
"Yes," I said. "Here, if I am not mistaken, come Appanius, and he has men with him."
"You will approach him?" asked Marcus.
"Certainly," I said.
"Hold!" I said, angrily, stepping forth. "Are you Appanius, he of well-known house of Appanius?"
"Who are you?" said he, angrily.
"By my armband, you see I have authority to stop you," I said, not pleasantly. Both Marcus and I, of course, as we usually did, wore our armbands, signifying our status as auxiliary guardsmen. A major advantage of this, of course, is that it entitled us to go abroad openly armed.
Appanius lifted his staff, angrily.
I took no note of the raised staff. I could, of course, at that point, have killed him. They, too, carried staffs. Other than this, however, in accord with the weapons laws, they were not armed. Two also carried chains.
"You have been questioned," I reminded Appanius.
He lowered his staff, angrily. "Yes," he said, "I am Appanius, of that house, best known for his agricultural enterprises."
"Do you own a disobedient, wayward slave?" I asked.
"I do not understand," he said.
"I have a little slut named Lavinia," I said.
"Lavinia!" he cried, in fury.
"Recently purchased," I said.
"The lewd little baggage!" he said.
"A fellow, whom I gather from others is your slave," I said, "had apparently seduced her."
"Impossible!" he said.
"You know this Lavinia?" I asked.
"I am sure it is the one!" he said. "I should have sold her out of the city as a pot girl months ago!"
"They have apparently been seeing one another," I said. That was true enough, of course, as Lavinia, in the garment resembling that of a state slave, and in what seemed to be a state collar, had been in contact several times with the slave, carrying verbal messages, and arranging the details of the putative assignation of this morning. Too, of course, she had been similarly in contact with the Ubara, only in that role, of course, in a collar purporting to be that of the house of Appanius.
"I cannot believe that!" said Appanius, angrily.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"You!" he cried. "It was you who sent me the message of this morning?"
"Yes," I said. "I have followed him. They meet somewhere around here. I am not sure where."
"If that is true," cried Appanius, "I know where!"
"Your slave should be disciplined," I said.
"It is your slave who should be disciplined!" he said. "Mine is innocent!"
"Mine is only a female slave," I said.
"Only a female slave! Only a female slave!" he exclaimed. "That is exactly it! She is a female slave! They are all the same. They are have hot little bellies and can't help themselves. They are always licking and kissing and begging! And that Lavinia is one of the worst! She is a seductrix, I tell you. They are all seductrices!"
"I have heard that it is your slave who is a seduction slave!" I said.
"Who has said that?" he cried.
"I have heard it said secretly in the city," I said.
"It is false!" he said. "False!"
"Nonetheless," I said, "it is your slave who is at fault."
"No," he said. "I know your Lavinia. It is she, the lewd little baggage, who is at fault!"
"She is only a female," I said.
"But a female slave!" he said. "Whip them and chain them, I say! Keep them in the kitchens and laundries, in the fields, put to labors as is fit for the little beasts! Keep them from honest men! Let honest men be protected!"
"At any rate," I said, "it seems they have been seeing on another."
"It cannot be!" he said.
"Your slave, it seems, has been carrying on a shameless affair with her."
"That cannot be," he said.
"I have seen them," I said. "He is a big, handsome fellow. Why could it not be?"
"He would not betray me!" he said.
"I do not understand," I said.
"I trust your little slut is on slave wine," he said.
"Of course," I said. "I have not chosen, at least as yet, to have her mated."
"You should keep her shackled," she said.
"To protect her from your slaves," I asked.
"Do you know who my slave is?" he asked.
"He is known in Ar?" I asked.
"Somewhat," said Appanius.
"I am not from Ar," I said.
"I gathered that," he said. "Were you from Ar you would know that a slave of my slave's quality could not be interested in the least in a meaningless little pot girl."
"You are sure of it?" I asked.
"Certainly," he said.
"Yet you have come here, with men," I said.
"That his innocence may be proved," he said.
"Is that why your men carry staffs and chains?" I asked.
"You are an insolent, surly fellow!" he cried.
"Beware, Appanius," said one of his retainers. "He is of the police."
"We could make a clear determination on this matter," I said, "if we could only locate them."
"You do not know where your slave is," he said, scornfully.
"How should I know where she is?" I asked.
"If you kept her at home in close chains, so she could hardly wriggles, and fastened to a ring, you would know," he said.
"And so, too," said I, "you would know the location of yours, if you had kept him in his cell!"
"It was your mistake," he said, "to let a slut like Lavinia off her chain!"
"What of you," I asked, "letting your fellow wander about Ar like a vulo cock?"
"My slave is innocent, honest and trustworthy!" he cried.
"And that is why you have brought men, and staffs and chains?" I asked.
"Sleen!" cried Appanius.
"Caution, Appanius," said one of his retainers. He was not unaware, as apparently was his employer, of Marcus, behind them, his hand on his sword. Marcus, I conjectured, could probably cut through the neck vertebrae of two of them before they could break. Also he could probably apprehend at least one of them, assuming they started off in different directions, as would be in their best interest. I, on the other hand, might hope to catch up to the other one, after dropping Appanius where he stood. If I had had to wager on the matter I did not think any of them would escape. The staff, except in the hands of an expert, is not a weapon to put against the blade.
"At any rate," I said, "I trailed Lavinia to this area, and I saw your slave about, too, and then, somehow, it seemed they disappeared."
"You did not actually see them together?" he asked.
"No," I said.
"Then they are not together!" he said.
"I am sure they are together," I said.
"No!" he said.
"It seems both just disappeared." I said.
"Do you not think they might be, separately, of course, in nearby buildings?" asked Appanius.
"How could that be?" I asked. "Slaves do not just walk into buildings without some business there. Too, folks do not just welcome strange slaves into their houses, greeting them and inviting them to share their kettles. And I would assume they had no money to bribe free persons for a room, for their clandestine rendezvous. Certainly Lavinia had no money."
"Have you counted your coins lately?" asked Appanius.