There--I understand--these things will
happen--in the households of the Great where the floors are so slippery
that the most wary feet may slide. But that does not console the
sufferer whose hurt remains, does it?"
"No," answered Saturius with a snarl, "but until he is in a position to
relay the floors, he must find chalk for his sandals and ointment for
his back. I want the purchaser's name, and thought perhaps that you
might have it, for the old woman has vanished, and that fool of an
auctioneer knows absolutely nothing."
"Why do you want his name?"
"Because Domitian wants his head. An unnatural desire indeed that
devours him; still one which, to be frank, I find it important to
satisfy."
Of a sudden a great light seemed to shine in Caleb's mind, it was as
though a candle had been lit in a dark room.
"Ah!" he said. "And supposing I can show him how to get this head, even
how to get it without any scandal, do you think that in return he would
leave me the lady's hand? You see I knew her in her youth and take a
brotherly interest in her."
"Quite so, just like Domitian and the two thousand sestertia man
and, indeed, half the male population of Rome, who, when they saw her
yesterday were moved by the same family feeling.
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